Chimera
by Krieg cormac
Summary: Taylor Hebert triggered with the memories of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Joy.
1. 1

War. When I dreamed all I saw was war. Countless battles in space and on land. I saw huge dagger shaped ships ravage entire planets. I saw the dagger ships go against other much smaller ships in large-scale battles. Dogfights with weird X looking fighters versus fighters similar to H shaped ships. Stuff that would make any sci-fi fan dream about. Soldiers in pristine white armor battling on harsh and unforgiving worlds against a variety of different aliens some seemed near-human, and others not even remotely similar. I smelled their burnt flesh as lasers blasted their way through armor and clothes. I saw diseases that could wipe out the entire human race. Diseases that could turn anyone into a disgusting monster. I also saw the abuse of the non-humans. I saw thousands if not millions of aliens enslaved just for not being human. The lucky ones were treated as some second class citizen. I saw them work on a battle station the size of Earth's moon. A planet killer.

Then, I was standing on the bridge of a gun-metal ship. I stared out at a massive fleet as they bombarded a colorful planet. What were they shooting? 'Bombarding a major rebel base on a uninhabited planet' my mind answered me. Then, I heard someone call out a name, and I turned around and the bridge had suddenly turned to what seems to be some sort of personal quarters. It was decorated with a variety of statues and paintings. At the back were what seemed to be a pair large lizards. I wouldn't have liked to see them alive, but somehow I had? I felt myself walk to what I think is the bathroom. I stared at the mirror, with deep red eyes staring back at me.

Then, I woke up.

* * *

I gasped and quickly sat up in my bed. I put my hands on my sweat covered face and dry heaved. I've been having these memories ever since the locker incident and were only getting worse. Somewhere took place out in deep space, others on populated worlds, but the one thing that all of them had in common was the blue-skinned, red eye man. A name popped up into my mind, Grand Admiral Thrawn. My best guess was that I somehow got all of his memories and that he used to be some type of thinker by parahuman standards. I sighed, quickly putting the name at the back of my mind and looked at the clock. Oh, it was time for my run. I quickly got up and changed into a pair of running pants and an oversized hoodie. I stared at myself in my mirror with a grimace, lips still too small, too much of beanpole and my only redeeming feature being my hair. I grabbed my glasses and got out of my room and quietly walked into the kitchen. I grabbed a bottle of water and a granola bar.

I then walked to the door and quietly opened it, got out, and closed the door behind me silently. I smiled and i began my jog. I started it out slowly before slowly picking up my pace. There were only a handful of people, but that was natural, especially since it was still a little dark out. It was relaxing to do this, especially with everyone at school against me, and trying to suppress these new memories.

It was hard. Sometimes when daydreaming in class I would be reliving his memories. I shuddered at what I saw. I passed several people walking down the streets and a bundle of information popped up in my mind.

I passed a homeless man sitting at the mouth of an alley. Frequent buyer of drugs. Hands shaking. Not cold, is in rebound. ABB kicked him out of his usual begging spot. Doesn't have money and doesn't want to work. I quickly put him out of my mind and kept going. I passed a white woman who kept looking over her shoulder. Is being harassed by the E88. Several men trailing are after her. I quickly jogged to the other side of the road and kept going. I soon arrived at the park. I sat on a bench and drank my water. I took my granola bar out of my pocket, opened it, and took a bite of it.

While chewing, I wondered what I would do. I could become a hero, not the type that could go up to villain and punch him in the face. No, my power was something greater. Suppressing the memories made it painful, what would happen if I stopped and tried to make them my own. Every since the locker I could do things I couldn't before. I noticed things I couldn't before. The smallest detail leading to things that wouldn't seem to connect or be possible. I wipe my forehead of sweat and get up. I, Taylor Hebert, could do great things, but not the girl I was months ago. No, it would take a master of war to make a change. Thrawn was that master and now I have him in my head. After all, he worked to perfect it. I smirked and made my way to the house.

By the time I got home, I had a game plan. I will not make the same mistakes Thrawn did. I opened the door and walked in to my Dad making breakfast.

"Morning dear. How was your jog?" He asked as he cooked some waffles. The sound of sizzling bacon filled the air.

"It was relaxing Dad." I replied. Weird, I haven't seen him this happy since mom died. Let's see if I can read him like I did those other people.

Is in a good mood. Has been awake for a while. Heard me leave. Possibly had a good dream. Wants to change how things are but doesn't know how. Decided to make breakfast before he leaves for work.

I smiled inwardly; I guess my power has more use than I thought it would. This was the first time I experimented with it on purpose. Should I tell Dad that I'm a parahuman? My logical side yes, that it'll be easier to keep the secret. My other side said no, that it'll put Dad in danger.

As I was thinking, I didn't notice that Dad had stopped cooking and was staring at me with his mouth open. I paused my train of thought and spoke.

"Is something wrong Dad?" I spoke keeping my voice calm and level. He paused, as if thinking on what to say.

"Taylor, your eyes are red."


	2. 2

My eyes widen slightly in shock. Wait, what is he talking about? I get up and run to the restroom. I open the door and slam it behind me quickly. I look in the mirror and stare in shock. My eyes were red! Not just my iris, but also my sclera, the white of my eye. The entire thing was a glowing red. My mouth gapes in shock. How did this happen? What could have caused this? Then I paused; there was only one explanation for this, Thrawn. I hold myself up by holding onto the sink and dry heave again. Reality started to hit me. I have an aliens memories in my head. Was this my memory, would any more changes occur? Was I even in control? I then hardened my resolve by letting the memories of Thrawn keeping his emotions under control flow through me. I calm myself down and I slowly take my glasses off and swipe the sweat off my forehead.

"Honey are you ok?" I heard my Dad asked. Paused before asking. Is scared, not for himself but for me. Is worried. Realized I triggered. Thinking back to the locker incident. I look up at the mirror one more time. My eyes were cold, inhuman. These were the eyes of a brilliant genius, some would even dare say madman. I close my mouth and swallowed my saliva.

"I'm fine Dad," I reply back keeping my voice steady and calm. I stand up straight and I wipe my mouth clean and open the door slowly. Dad was standing there with worry clearly on his face. I didn't have to be a thinker to know what was going through his mind. I smiled softly and looked up at him, he flinched, it was subtle, but enough for me to notice. Knows what's about to happen next. Doesn't want to believe it. Blames himself for not noticing earlier.

"Dad, I'm a cape."

Dad didn't speak much as I explained to him what happened. I kept my power running as I explained. He had to sit down on one of the dining tables. Hands shaking. Eyes are a bit red. Not Chiss red, crying red. Is trying not to freak out. Wonders what Mom would do if she was here. Seems uncomfortable with the idea of a brilliant warlords memories are stuck in his daughters mind.

I put my hand on top of his and I squeeze his hand softly. Dad looks at me and smiles softly. Is trying to be strong for me. Then, all I saw was colors. I could still "see", but it was in a different way. I still saw my Dad, but his face was bright red with hints of yellow and orange. It was like seeing through a thermal camera. My eyes widen and I looked around confused. Everything was in basic colors. Blue was cold, yellow was warm, orange warm, red was hot. I had a thermal vision? Then another memory hit me.

I was at a party. I saw a nearby mirror. Thrawn! I, well he, was dressed in a grey uniform and was standing next to an older grandfatherly looking gentleman in a white uniform. Was he also a Grand Admiral. No, Colonel of the Imperial Security Bureau. Colonel Yularen. Veteran of the Clone Wars. To the other side of "me" was a young handsome looking man. He was dressed in the same uniform as Thrawn, but he had the insignia of an ensign. Eli Vanto. "My" aide and translator. "I" was talking to a woman. Arihnda Pryce. My vision then turned into "thermal" mode. "I" was reading people, Thrawn could see people's emotions by reading their facial heat! This most likely means that he could detect the heat from their blood. Was Thrawn some type of super thinker? Then, my vision slowly faded to black.

When I woke up, I felt something soft. I sat up and looked around. Everything looked normal again. Was I in my room? What happened? The last thing I knew was that I was talking to Dad before that memory and thermal vision hit me, I got up and looked down at myself. Still wearing the jogging pants, but now I was wearing a plain white shirt that looked like it was just thrown at me. I look at the clock. Shit, I'm late for school. Well, it's not like anyone will notice me gone. Besides, I don't want to have to explain the sudden change to my eyes. I shuddered thinking what the Trio would say. I made my way to the door and left my room. Had I passed out? It seemed to be the only explanation, but why hadn't Dad taken me to the hospital? Maybe he thought that it would instantly give away my identity. After all, completely red eyes aren't exactly common.

I made my way downstairs to see my Dad watching the news on his favorite recliner. Wait, he didn't go to work? I stood there quietly and analyzed him again.

Is worried. Thinks I'm going to get into trouble. Hand twitch. Still in shock. Not dangerous. Is watching news channels he doesn't normally watch. Trying to distract himself.

I cough to get his attention and Dad quickly gets up and looks at me. He gives me a small smile and pulls me into a hug. I hug him back.

"So what do you plan on doing?" Dad asked. Voice is level. Has been thinking on how to say it. Decided to not jump around the issue.

I pull away from the hug slowly and I smirk. I open my mouth ready to respond.

"Dad, I want to be a hero." Dad nods slowly. It was obvious he was thinking about this the entire time I was out. I didn't give him a chance to respond and I asked him a question.

"What happened?" I asked him before he could respond. It was best to get as much information as I can about this. After all, it could become a common occurrence or just for this moment.

"Well, you looked around. I kept calling your name, but you didn't hear me and you just passed out." Dad said slowly. Doesn't like remembering what had happened. "I didn't take you to the hospital because I doubted that you would have liked it in the first place." He had a grimace on his face.

I smile at him and nod. It would have been really bad if he had taken me to the hospital. The PRT would most likely have intervened and I would probably be forced into the Wards. Blackmail or otherwise. That would also put Dad at risk since my identity would most likely be leaked. While the resources and manpower the PRT offer would be very beneficial, it would also act as a double-edged sword. I would most likely be forced to attend those PR conferences, and while PR is very important; I would not be allowed to work to my maximum potential. All the Wards are required to go on patrols, and while my thinker abilities are useful; I doubt I could go up to a cape like Hookwolf and punch him in the face. Most, if not all, of the Wards, have powers that allow them to go toe to toe with capes in combat or play support in the field. I could go out in the field, but it'll have to be mostly against non-cape foes or have some sort of tinker tech with support. I'll have to play it smart.

In the midst of my thinking, I heard a low rumbling noise. Dads face lights up laughing and I feel myself blush. I hadn't eaten breakfast yet.

"I saved you some breakfast kiddo. Go eat and then we'll talk again." Dad told me with a smile on his face now. Has been reminded that I'm still his daughter. Will try to keep my sane? Believe Thrawn was a sort of madman.

"Alright Dad." I smile and I kiss his cheek. I head back to the kitchen and grab the now cold breakfast. I sit at the table and start to eat. One thought went into my mind and I smirked. It was something Thrawn had said back as a Grand Admiral and as a commander for the Chiss Ascendancy. It fit my situation perfectly. Almost too perfect.

The warrior's path lies before me, let's see where it leads.

A/N

Thanks for all the support! Sorry there wasn't much Thrawn here! I will try to get chapters out at least once a week! Feel free to like, follow and comment! Tell me how I can improve!


	3. 3

By the time I had finished breakfast, Dad left to go to work late. He told me that he had called the school and said I was sick. Now I had the entire day to myself. With glowing red eyes, and an aliens memories in my brain. A wonderful combination. I put my dish in the sink and went to the basement. I needed something to hide my eyes. I looked through some old boxes and found some old sunglasses. They were a bit dusty so I grabbed a nearby rag and cleaned them off. I smile softly as I stare at them. They used to be my Mom's. Taking them with me as I head to my room, I get ready to shower and change clothes. I grabbed some random clothes out of my closet and headed into the bathroom. I undressed, and placed the sunglasses on the counter and turned on the shower.

I sighed as I felt the cold water running through my hair. Then I turned the water off and stepped out. Then, I started to put my clean clothes on. I look at myself in the mirror and I cringe slightly at my appearance. The dark color of my clothes made my red eyes pop out even more. I stared at myself in the mirror, and Thrawn appeared in the mirror. His clothes were tattered and had rips all over them. I gasp in shock and closed my eyes. When I opened again, he was gone. I groan and rub my eyes. It must be a side effect of the memories. I grabbed the sunglasses and left the bathroom. I put the sunglasses on and went to the door. I grabbed my keys and left. Locking the door behind me, I started to walk to the boardwalk. Sure I could have taken the bus, but where was the fun in that.

I soon left the neighborhood and managed to walk at a decent speed. I avoided streets and areas that were known to be under gang control. I didn't want to cause an incident just yet. Most people ignored the fact that I was wearing sunglasses. Good thing all of them kept things to themselves. I didn't want anyone coming too close and noticing my eyes. I passed several old gang signs and stopped to look at them for a bit. Time to put Thrawn's love of art to the test. Random. No pattern. The lines waver. The artist was impaired. Most likely high when drawn. Has no artistic skill. Ran out of paint halfway through. Used different color to finish it. Paint faded. This was once Merchant territory. Territory that had been abandoned for some time. Seeing how there weren't any other gang signs, it was likely the PRT or the policies that drove them out. I make a face at the art. Not even Thrawn could appreciate art that bad. Well, that was actually pretty useful. I wondered what else I could discern from other art. I kept walking.

Soon I was walking down the Boardwalk while eating an ice cream cone. The man at the ice cream stand gave me a weird look, but didn't say anything. I walked around and sat at an empty bench. I then let my power flow through me. A balding man walked past.

Is looking behind his shoulder. Clothes are well made but are worn out. Shoes look a bit old. Has tears on his pants. Is he on the run from a debt collector? He scans the crowd. No, he's looking for someone. Arm is twitching. A woman approaches him and they leave. Face heats up. Is nervous. He has a pale circular line around his ring finger. Is he having an affair or did he just get a divorce? Maybe, he doesn't want to run into his wife or ex at the Boardwalk. Is ready to mingle. I sigh inwardly and put that out my mind. That's too much information. Way too much.

I then felt someone staring at me and I turned my head to the side still eating my ice cream. I make eye contact with a pretty blonde girl. She staring at me. Eyes focused on me, scanning up and down slightly. Muscles around the eyes are tight. She's trying to read me. Eyes widen. Inhales sharply. Posture stiffens. Face heats up in embarrassment. She knows I see her eyeing me. Well, she was being rather obvious about it. I didn't need to be a thinker to figure that out. Regains posture. Eyes focus on my eyes. They narrow. She tilts her head to the side slightly. She can't read my eyes. Now her expression soften. Her posture pulls back slightly. What? Does she think something's wrong with my eyes? Her eyes narrow again. The corner of her lips rises slightly. Nope. I'd say she just figured out I'm a Parahuman. Joy. She shifts from side to side. Appears slightly restless. I think she wants to approach me. She must be a parahuman too. Most likely a thinker. Possibly a social thinker. I keep my composure and I finish my ice cream. I wasn't about to waste it. Who knows when I'll have time to relax and eat one? There wasn't any known independent thinkers in town, and I couldn't name any that I know of in the Protectorate. Forms a Cheshire smile. Hands slightly shaking. Is excited. Trying to hide the fact that she can't read parts of me. Doesn't know what I'm thinking. Is reading my actions. Waiting for me to finish before approaching. Doesn't want things to start off bad by interrupting me. Doesn't know how I'll react. Knows I can be dangerous. May consider me to be dangerous

I keep a straight face and finish the last of my ice cream. The mystery girl then made her way over to be and sat next to me on the bench. I angled my head so she wouldn't be able to see my glowing red eyes. She kept her grin and acted as if she didn't notice it.

"Where did you get the ice cream? What's your name? So, what's your deal?" She asked forcing a grin. She's firing off questions rapidly, probably to get some reaction out of me. A reaction she can read. Eyes twitch. Muscles in her jaw tighten. Is failing due to Thrawn's memories. Her power has a limit. Eyes wincing slightly. Face is bright red. More blood flowing to her face. She's in pain. Most likely headaches. I let a smirk show on my face. That's one advantage I had over her, I didn't get any headaches.

"Well, I'm not in pain for one thing, and I'm pretty sure you know where I got them." I responded as I let memories of Thrawn speaking flow through me. I had added a slight accident similar to his to throw this mystery girl off. "Need some Advil?" She recoils slightly. Heh, she wasn't expecting that. Face is scrunching up. Her eye dart around slightly. She's trying to figure out the accent. She won't. I make my hand shake slightly making it seem like I'm nervous. Let's see how she responds. Her eyes dart towards my arm. They widen slightly. The corners of her lips twitches upwards. The glow of her face increases. Sees this as an opportunity. Hm, so her power is based on reading people. Possibly an inference power except jacked up.

"Thanks for the offer but no thanks. I don't take candy from strangers. You probably got a white van around here. Want something to calm your nerves?" She still has her grin. Is trying to make her power stop reading me. I stop my arm from twitching and she seems to notice her mistake. Eyes widen. Mouth gapes. Face turns even hotter. She realized I played her. I don't think she's been outsmarted like this before. Her powers are not infallible.

I let out a laugh and smile. So not used to smiling, but sacrifices must be made. "I'm Taylor." Best to extend an olive branch. Who knows what contacts or resources she has? I'm sure a thinker with her power would have a powerful backer. I'll have to do some research later.

She stares at me for a second before speaking slowly. "I'm Lisa." She barely winced, but it was enough for me to notice it, from pain again. Overused her powers. I keep my smile, it's time to take the initiative. Body is tense. Hands move to leave but they return to her side. Well, like the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat.

I casually put an arm around her and said softly. "I don't think you want this conversation in public." She looks at me confused. Confused. Never been outthinkered before. Her focus is on me. Been too busy trying to read me that she forgot her surroundings. "See that guy over there." I motion my face towards a man in black shirt, pants and a hat. Member of E88. Has tattoo on neck. Hides shaved head with the hat. Face heats up in embarrassment and moves along to make advances on other females. "He was about to come over to flirt with you. After all, you are a blond white pretty girl. E88s favorite type. Putting my arm around you made him rethink his choice and give us privacy to talk." Now's time for the checkmate. "It's too much of a public place here. I'm sure you don't want any undue attention with your abilities. Now anywhere we can speak without disturbance?" I motion my head to some of the Boardwalk enforcers walking by us.

Lisa stays quiet for a moment before answering. "Follow me." I nod and we get up. She wobbled a little as she got up and I help her steady. We walk for a while in silence. Once we leave the Boardwalk I let a chuckle out.

"What is it?" Lisa asked. Her pain seemed to have down a bit so she was walking without support. Nose is scrunching up. Face is not as red as before. Is curious. I keep silent as we reach an empty alleyway. We stand where we can see the street, but where we won't be noticed.

I lower my sunglasses enough so that only Lisa could see my eyes. Lisa stares in shock as glowing red eyes stare into her.

"Why, I think we are going to be the very best of friends!" I let an insane smile show on my face. A cover naturally. It'll be best to throw her off course and to make her afraid of me. A cornered animal is dangerous, but more prone to making mistakes.

What I wasn't expecting is Lisa passing out. Damn it.

A/N

Thanks for all the support! Feel free to leave a comment, favorite and follow! Tell me how I can do better and what would you like to see! Till next time.


	4. Omake 1

A/N Chapter 4 is being a bit delayed so here is this omake as an apology. Didn't really try hard on this one, I just wrote what came to mind on my phone. So it's not my best work and expect mistakes!! This is not canon.

Lisa was having the time of her life. It has been over a month since the Ascendancy assault on all of Coil's bases, and life was going pretty good for once. It had taken her a while to get used to not being paranoid around her boss. Until today. Lisa was in her room going over some reports when someone started knocking at her door. When she opened it, a young woman was standing at the door.

She was dressed in the black uniform of the Ascendancy stormtrooper division. Uniform is still pristine. Not wearing armor. Probably an officer. Standard grunts wear light body armor in the base. The symbol on her cap shows that she's a member of the 7th platoon. Upon seeing Lisa, the stormtrooper saluted her. Lisa let her signature cheshire grin form on her face. It was good being a high ranking member of an organization which won't backstab her within a moment notice.

"At ease." Lisa said and the stormtrooper lowered her arm. She has seen combat. Arm is a bit stiff. Possible stab or gunshot wound. Lisa slapped herself mentally. She didn't need to know this stuff.

"Aristocra Thrawn has requested your presence in her office, ma'am." Lisa looked at the woman's shoulder and nodded. She doesn't know anything else.

"Understood. Dismissed Lieutenant." Lisa replied. She didn't let her confusion kreep into her voice as the Lieutenant turned around and left. Taylor usually came to get her herself. Lisa shrugged and closed the door behind her. She walked down the hallways which she spent the past weeks memorizing. It wasn't that hard for her.

Soon she arrived outside of Taylor's office. Standing outside were two female stormtroopers. Both had the symbol of a chimera on their shoulder signifying their allegiance to Taylor and as members of her personal bodyguard.

Weird, I haven't seen any guys in this part of the base.' Lisa thought. They are guarding something. They have tinker-tech guns at their side. Normal guards use standard firearms. Weapon does not have standard stun all blasters have. Will be shooting to kill. That was useful to know.

Lisa walks up to the guards. Before she could open her mouth they open the door and shove her inside. She growled and turned to look at the locked door. Lisa sighed and turned back around and walked through the second door.

What she saw made her speechless. Taylor was in a bikini posing and not only that but she had a photographer in there. Lisa felt her mouth open before closing. Lisa turned around and tried to leave before realizing the door was locked.

"Hello Lisa. Glad you could join us." Lisa heard Taylor say. She sighed and turned around. Taylor was still posing. The bikini was red in a shade similar to her eyes. Her blue skin made it pop out. She had changed a lot physically since they had first met. Now, Taylor had started to work out and had gained definitions in her arms and legs. In short terms, she was hot.

"Yeah sure. What's this for?" She asked. She couldn't read Taylor as well as she liked. Thrawn's memories interferes with her thinker power. A big reason why she likes talking with Taylor. She could guess stuff by her movements, but not what she's thinking. It was quite refreshing to be honest.

"Shadow Stalker has noticed a lull in recruits and thus offered an idea." Taylor said as she stopped posing and went rummaging in the back of the office. Lisa looked around. To any normal person the office would look messy, but if one paid attention,they would notice a pattern. Posters of hero's on one side, villains on the other with independents and the PRT/Gangs in the back.

Taylor kept speaking. "Particularly in high schools. Therefore he suggested that we make posters that appeal to teenagers.I believe it's what they call 'sexy' these days." Taylor replied as she stopped rummaging and walked into the closet. She walked out seconds later wearing a tank top and her white pants. Lisa paled when she saw what was in her hands.

She was holding a bucket of blue paint in one hand, and a matching bikini in the other. She turned to run, but two security droids grabbed her arm and pulled her to Taylor who was grinning.

"Why so serious?" Taylors accented voice sounded out.

"Nooooooooooooooooo."

10 minutes later

"Pleaaseee let me wear the blue jumpsuit." Lisa begged as the droids painted her skin blue. She had been forced into the bikini and was in the middle of getting painted. Taylor kept her face straight as she covered Lisa's pale skin blue.

"That would look tacky Lisa. What I am doing is art. Now keep still or I'll get the red contacts." Taylor simply said. Lisa knew that struggling would make it worst so she signed and resigned herself to her faith. Taylor would pay for this later. Lisa glared at the droid behind Taylor that served as a photographer. The droid was obviously trying to not laugh. In some weird way. Freaking C3PO looking self.

Lisa was then down and a green screen was pulled behind her. Taylor nodded satisfied and sat next to the droid.

"This will be out of this world."

All Lisa saw next were bright flashes.

"I hate my life."

The results of the posters occurred quickly. Recruitment has never been higher, though most left after finding out that the Ascendancy is in fact, not a strip club.


	5. 4

Do you know how hard it was to sneak Lisa's unconscious body inside my house? Surprisingly, not that difficult. I simply held her up by putting her arm around my shoulders, and dragged her home. Only problem that I had is that she was heavier than she looked and my sunglasses slid down a bit every once in a while, but I managed to keep them on. A couple people gave me some curious looks, but a weird looking smile seemed to placate them, for now. Hopefully they didn't call the cops on me, or a gang. I really don't need that right now.

Soon, we finally arrived home. Home, with an unconscious pretty, blond girl. Dad would have a field day chewing me out. I drag her down to the basement, totally didn't hit her on the head on the floor accidently several times. I sighed softly, I needed to work on my actual strength. Thrawn could take a hit from a robot during an assassination attempt for Christ's sake! I can barely take a shove from Sophia. I layed Lisa against the wall and searched for something to tie her up. Then, I took off my sunglasses and swiped the sweat off of my forehead.

I rummaged through some boxes and found some zip ties. Wait, why do we have zip ties? I push the naughty thoughts out of my mind and tied Lisa up. It wouldn't hurt to take precautions. After all, she could secretly be a gang member or a villain! I looked around the basement and looked through some boxes. I found an old mirror and I stared into it. Wait a minute, I'm not wearing my glasses. My red eyes stared back at me in shock and I slump to the ground. Wow, am I dense. I spent all this time without my glasses. It feels weird. Well, not as weird as my new eye color. I slap myself softly before I straightened up.

Calm down Taylor. Be professional. Be like Thrawn. I put the mirror to the side and kept searching for anything that could be useful. It's been years since I've looked through I heard a voice behind me speak.

"Well well. I don't know if I should be amused or aroused?" I turned around and saw that Lisa was staring back at me. I keep a blush from appearing on my face and spoke.

"Your choice." She let a laugh out and looked around. She was wondering where we are most likely _._ Lisa focuses her eyes on me. I don't speak and a awkward silence descends upon us.

"So….case 53?" Lisa said softly breaking the silence. Her voice had a sense of humor to it. She knows I'm not one. I shake my head side to side. I could however use that to my advantage in the future.

"Nope. Just your average parahuman. If there even is an average." I responded. Probably shouldn't have answered her question but I do owe her for kinda kidnapping her. Lisa looks at the zip ties and stared at me.

"Is this really the best you could do?" She said in a deadpan voice. _The corners of her lips raise in amusement._ I simply shrug my shoulders and sit across from her.

"So what's your deal? I'm sure a thinker like you would be snatched up by any organization in a heartbeat." I asked letting curiously take over a bit.

Lisa didn't answer right away. _Face heats up flighty._ She licks her lips and opens her mouth.

"Well, you're right about that." She paused again and looks down. _Her hands start shaking slightly._

"Im guessing its a villain right?" I said. If she worked for the PRT she most likely not be reacting this way. I doubt the ABB would have recruited her even with her power. Lung only recruited asians after all. Hmm, if she was a Merchant she would be high and smelling like drugs. That narrowed it down. She was either working for the E88 or an independant. Possibly Uber and L33T, or even Coil. There were a couple more independents in town, but most of them go solo.

Lisa nods and looks up again. "Yeah. I was forced to join a team. We haven't made big news yet. Im part of the Undersiders." She didn't name who forced her. Interesting. Let's see what'll happen if I ask.

"I see. Forced you say? Why don't you leave?" I asked. She's vulnerable now. Let's see what she'll spill. I grab a knife and cut her bonds off. Lisa smiles in appreciation and rubs her wrist.

¨Hard to leave when you're held at gunpoint.¨ She replied dryly. _Her face is back to normal temperatures._ ¨Its Coil.¨ Bingo. _She's not lying. She has no reason to lie and her voice holds to venom in it towards me._

¨I see. You're most likely going to report to him and tell him you found another thinker.¨ I responded. I didn't let any emotion into my voice. _Her face heats up again in embarrassment ._ Lisa looks at me, obviously reading me. ¨Well, I'm about to make you the offer of the century.¨ Lisa's face makes a confused expression.

¨When the time comes, I'll help you leave Coil. As long as you don't report to him about me. Make up a cover story. You scratch my back, I scratch yours.¨ I laid out my offer. Lisa keeps silent and keeps staring at me. _Her eyes are moving rapidly. She's trying to read my facial expressions most likely. Probably looking for any deceit in my offer._

¨I...I accept your offer. How do I know I can trust you? Or that you an even trust me?¨ Lisa responded with a grin on her face. It seemed, unnatural how wide it was. It kinda reminds me of the cheshire cat.

¨You don't. Call this a leap of faith.¨ I said. If she backstabs me then I would have lost my gamble.

Lisa simply nodded and stood up. "Alright. Can I go home now? I need to get back before Coil notices I'm gone. I wouldn't be surprised if he already knows."

"That's fine by me. I don't need my Dad asking me why I have a girl over." I replied nodding in return and lead her up the stairs. Lisa followed me and I showed her to the door.

We stood at the door and she turned to look at me. Lisa formed a big grin on her face and extended her hand towards me.

"Pleasure doing business with you partner." She said. I nodded in return and took her hand shaking it.

"See you." I replied as she left. Once the door was closed I gasped and leaned against the wall. I wasn't used to this. It felt weird letting Thrawn's memories flow through me. It's like I become a different person.

I breathe in deeply and straighten my back while putting my sunglasses back on. There was a possibility that Coil already knows who I am. I need a way to defend myself more efficiently. Maybe I could ask Dad for a taser or a baton when he gets home. Thrawn did have some blueprints for weapons in his head, but I don't have most of the materials needed to build them. Things like tibanna gas don't even exist in this universe! After I build my power base, I could create better weapons. The Wards would limit my potential, after all, the highest rank I could gain hypothetically is being the head of a branch on the protectorate like Armsmaster. Joining a gang is also out of the question with the E88 being Nazis, the ABB only accepting Asians, and the Merchants are just a bunch of drug addicts. I could do better than that. Thrawn commanded an Imperial fleet for Christ sake! That's enough firepower to level any city or maybe even an Endbringer. The only route that appealed to me is going independante and founding my own "gang". I push those thoughts out of my mind and focused on the task at hand. I needed to make a plan.

First things first, I need to gather information. Thrawn was a tactical genius, but he never made a move without a plan or information. Hell, he had back up plans for THE back up plans. I should head to the library to research the capes in the city. I need to study the gangs, and not just their behaviors. In order to defeat them, I need to focus not just on their battle tactics, but their history, philosophy and art. Thrawn could pull wonders just by looking at a species art. I'm sure he could analyze human art with ease.

Second, I need to create a costume. I remember Mom had a sewing machine in the basement. I smirk, I already know what to make. I just need to get the materials to make it. It wouldn't be able to block a bullet, but I suppose I could recreate imperial officer battle armor later on to compensate for it. Yes that'll work just fine. I'll have to use a makeshift mask until I could build an imperial helmet. Maybe customize it a little to fit my needs and likes.

I looked around the house and sighed. This isn't the most defensible position but it'll have to do for now. I open the door and walked down the street again for the second time today.

Brockton Bay won't know what hit them.

A/N

This isn't my best chapter, but if I don't get past this Ill get a writers block. So sorry for the poor quality! Here are some fun facts regarding the story to make up for it!

Fun fact  
Early versions of this story include Taylor literally getting Thrawn in her mind and could summon a projection of him.  
Another version is that at the end of the Rebels finale, Thrawn ends up in the Worm universe and joins the PRT due to him not being a parahuman. He looks for an aide who will give him an unbiased opinion and finds Taylor. She basically becomes his new Eli Vanto.


	6. 5

Dad got home later that day with food from a nearby fast food place. Silence reigned as we ate our dinner. He flinched slightly whenever my eyes made contact with his. Of course he was reacting like this. It'll take a while before he becomes used to this. We continued to eat in silently before Dad broke the silence.

"Taylor, I want you to join the Wards." He said finally looking me in the eyes. Hmm, was he building up his confidence to say it while we ate or was he trying to find a way to say it properly? I'm honestly surprised. Here's a man who can say no to the ABB, Empire and the occasional Merchant thug, is now possibly scared of his daughter. Albeit a parahuman daughter, but my point still stands. My response came easily.

"No." I said simply. He flinched subtly. He wasn't expecting my voice to be so calm. Dad was probably expecting me to blow up with our family's infamous temper. Good, a change in mannerisms confuses the enemy and allows an opening. I continue speaking to capitalize on the fact that he remained silent.

"For all the resources and benefits they have, I would be hindered by them. The bureaucracy in the PRT and as a result, the Wards are too detrimental." Dad nods slowly. Time to finish my speaking and allow him to counter me. "I don't want to join the Wards."

Dad stares at me before speaking. "So what, you'll be safer there than as an independent. I've been doing research at work. The average lifespan of an independent is 6 months before they are killed or forced to join a gang. Taylor, I can't lose you." Dad had worry all over his face. It didn't take a thinker to know why he felt like this. I'm the only person he has left after all, even though we barely spoke after Mom died.

"I appreciate your concern Dad, but I already have a plan." I replied. It wasn't a complete lie. Thrawn had hundreds of plans. They may not relate here, but he didn't need to know that I haven't thought of one for the situation at the moment. Dad shuffled slightly as I spoke. When we spoke earlier, he didn't like the idea of an alien memories in me. Much less a male alien. He had calmed down after I told him Thrawn never married or formed romantic relationships. It's good to see that he still cares about me. Dad seemed to have calmed down a bit. His face isn't as hot as it was when I responded.

Dad looked at me before nodding slowly. Victory is about to be handed to me. He looks conflicted for a moment before answering.

"Fine. Just don't get into trouble." His eyes turned hard all of a sudden. Good, it'll allow him to deal with people of authority which he already does on a daily basis. I let a smirk show on my face and nod.

We finish our meal in peace before we go our separate ways. I went to my room, while Dad went to his recliner to watch TV. Under normal circumstances, I would probably join him in silence, but now I had important things to do. I closed the door behind me and grabbed a notebook I had on my desk.

I then started to draw. It wasn't surprising that Thrawn himself dabbled in art. Everything just came naturally to me and when I was done, I had my costume idea finished. The suit was based off of Thrawn's Chiss commander uniform, but had Imperial officer armor on top of it painted black. Instead of a mask, I had drawn the standard helmet officers wore in the field, but had mixed it with an AT-DPs faceplate.

I didn't have the funds for the armor yet, but I could try and create the uniform underneath it. For a temporary helmet I could use a bikers helmet. It'll have to be one that's tinted to hide my eyes. Glowing red eyes aren't PR friendly after all. I wouldn't want to be confused for a villain on my first outing.

Equipment wise, all I have right now is the pepper spray got me. I'll write him a note in the morning asking for a taser and baton. That'll leave me at a disadvantage range wise, but I suppose I could loot a gun off a gang member. Once I get resources, I could see if I can recreate blasters. Imperial blasters use tibanna gas and Thrawn only got a glimpse of their schematics. I could try making Charric blasters. Standard Ascendancy officer training included learning how to recreate a blaster when supplies were low or stranded. It'll be easier to find a way to power the Charric blasters than Imperial ones. Thrawn did an extensive study of buzz droids from the clone wars. Maybe I could modify them a bit to act like probe droids. I let a smile show on my face. That'll be a good way to gather intelligence. Of course, I'll need a cellphone. Dad probably wouldn't approve, but he'll be forced to compromise when I bring the subject up.

There were so many possibilities. I yawned and looked at the clock. Yikes it's quarter past eleven. Well at least tomorrow's Saturday which leaves me the weekend to work. I look outside my room and smiled softly. Dad was already asleep. Good, it'll help him relax and help his brain.

I go back inside my room and laid on my bed. It took me a while, but when I fell asleep, I dreamt of conquest.

The next morning, I woke up to the smell of breakfast and the sound of bacon sizzling. I sighed softly and got up to get dressed. I went downstairs and sat near the TV.

"Morning Taylor." Dad said cheerfully. Hmm, that's weird considering what has been happening. I look at the TV and freeze. A documentary on whales was playing. I harden my gaze and prevent my hand from shaking.

 _Thrawn was standing on the bridge of a Star Destroyer. He was bombarding a city. Rebels had taken the planet. Grand Moff Tarkin ordered that the city should be destroyed than be captured, much to the chagrin of Thrawn. He didn't like non-combatants to get involved. I saw a young man get escorted to the bridge. He proceeded to shoot the stormtroopers as weird anomalies destroyed the fleet in orbit. Thrawn was forced push to the front of the bridge. Then, giant flying whale with tentacles started to wrap around the Chimaera. Thrawn looked on in fear as the tentacles of one wrapped around him. He stared at the young man, Ezra Bridger, as they shot into hyperspace._

I hate whales. I grab the remote and change the channel. It was another documentary, about squids. Scratch that, I hate squids and whales. I grimace and change the channel to the news. I sigh and I enter the kitchen.

When I walked in, most of the cooking was done. The bacon was already at the table, and Dad was finishing up the last of the pancakes. I sat at the table and served myself a cup of orange juice.

"Morning kiddo."

"Good morning Dad."

Conversation as dry as usual. He seems to be in a good mood though. Dad placed the pancakes on the table and sat down.

"Eat up." He said with a smile on his face. _His face is at normal temperature_. He's not nervous anymore. Dads probably proud that his daughter will "clean up" Brockton Bay. I do as he commands and eat my fill of breakfast.

When I'm done, I place my plate in the sink and I make my way upstairs. I look at myself in the mirror and shudder. Still ugly.

Grabbing my sunglasses, I walked back downstairs and made my way to leave.

"I'm going out for a bit." I told Dad as he was cleaning the dishes. He looked confused for a second, but then he saw the sunglasses which seemed to calm him.

"Ok, stay safe sweetie." He said as I closed the door behind me. I took a deep breath and exhaled. The nearest library was a couple blocks over. Close enough for a walk, yet far enough from the dangerous part of town.

Soon I came upon the library. I walked inside to see the face of the library receptionist. She looked like the stereotypical librarian from all those Earth Aleph high school movies. I make my way towards the Librarian and I handed her my library ID.

"Are the computers available?" I asked casually. These sunglasses made me seem like an asshole wearing them inside a building. She grunts a reply and handed me the ID back.

I nod and make my way to the computers sitting in the back of the library. There were only a handful of people sitting at the computers, so I made my way to the one with no one else on the row. I don't want someone catching a side glance of my eyes. I sit down and I rub my hands together. It was so cold that the tips of my hands were blue. I should probably get that checked out later.

I sign on and begin my research in earnest. First, I need to research the gangs and parahumans in the city.

The gang with the most amount of capes would be the Empire Eighty Eight. I look at some o the posters they have posted on the PHO. The primary colors found in all of them are white, black and red. At first glance, it seems that they simply chose them to make the art pop. Further research showed that those are the colors of Nazi Germany.

The ABB only had two capes, but the main one, Lung, was powerful enough to go toe to toe with the entire Protectorate and walk away. Their main colors were red, yellow, green and white. Red was found primarily in their "joyful" messages. Yellow was to proclaim their greatness and self promote themselves. Green and white were the most common ones. Green was found on every street they took over recently. This led me to see that green was their color of victory. However small it was. White simply meant death. Plenty of those drawn in E88 and Merchant territory.

The Merchants were by far the worst ones out of the three. Nothing was consistent with them. I felt disgust show on my face. Most of their art was done during a high and simply said Merchant in whatever color they had on hand. Some even urinated in place of paint!

Before the locker, I wouldn't have noticed the patterns in art the gangs had. E88 art was jagged with European influences. The ABB art had curves and flowed. This showed off their culture and their pride. I don't want to even think about the Merchants.

I lean back in my chair and I rub my forehead. Time to see who could be possible recruits to join me.

Uber and L33T were simply losers who recorded their crimes online. Before the locker I had watched a couple videos, until Grand Theft Auto. They could be useful. They seemed to know how PR works and could work for me as propaganda specialist.

Circus was an independent who simply resorted to stealing valuables from people. She wasn't seen teaming up with others which probably means she doesn't do well with others.

New Wave was the only other hero team in the city. However, the only active members are Glory Girl and Panacea. Shielded and Laserdream are reportedly focusing on their secular career and are going to college. Brandish seems to have focused on her career as a lawyer and her husband Flashbang hasn't been seen much by himself in public. Lady Photon had been seen every once in awhile fighting Purity. Manpower is seen in public at his workplace. Perhaps I could convince Glory Girl and Panacea to join. They probably won't due to family ties, but it wouldn't hurt to offer. Even if they said no, I'm sure we could go on patrols together and offer assistance.

The Merchants has three capes, but the only one I saw remotely useful is Squealer. Skidmark and Mush could be useful depending on the situation. I would prioritize Squealer with them as optional depending on how they react when I take their gang apart.

I looked over the Wards, but the only one that interested me was Shadow Stalker. She was the odd one out of the group. At every Ward conference, the others always stand a couple feet away from her. They never turned to look G her. Rumor has it that she almost killed someone before as a vigilante. My eyes scan her page. She rarely does interviews and is rumor has it that she is the only Ward not going to Arcadia. The other main high schools in the city are Immaculate and Winslow. I doubt such a violent person would even be allowed at Immaculate which would leave Winslow as the second option.

I bite my lip in frustration. It'll take some time, but I'm confident that I could figure out who she was. After all, every organization needs a crazy attack dog. She should be the easiest one to recruit after Uber and L33T. She doesn't seem to have much camaraderie with the Protectorate so convincing her shouldn't be a problem. The only problem is she probably knows who I am.

I look at the time and kept working. I started to perform research on possible ways to incapacitate the capes in the city. Not surprisingly, the Wards were the easiest to defeat. I look to my right and cringed at a cardboard cutout of an anthropomorphic animal. Turns out the computers were close for the kids section for some reason. I got up and left after signing out.

As I walked back home, one thing was on my mind.

I hate space whales. Especially humanized ones.


	7. 6

On my way home, I stopped by a cloth shop to pick up some materials for my costume. The cashier gave me a weird look, but didn't say anything. I got home with a bag full of black cloth and a roll of very, very dark grey. Yes they are totally different colors. Dad's truck wasn't in the driveway so it was easy to assume that he left for work. He usually does half days on Saturday. I walked in and made my way to the basement.

Mom's old sewing machine sat on a dusty, old table in the corner of the room. I smiled as I remembered the times she would come down here to fix one of my torn shirt or pants. She even fixed one of Emma's dresses down here. I frowned and pinched myself softly as I laid my bags on the floor near the table.

While it would be effective to have one made, such a costume would inevitably be linked back to me in my current state and I'm pretty much broke. Therefore a temporary costume would be needed until I have more funds to spend. I sat the the chair in front of the desk and pulled out a measuring tape. Turns out Thrawn dabbled in all forms of art and experimented with clothing for a while. The main difference was the old sewing machine I'm using, but the principle of measuring and creating should be the same.

I then went to work with the materials I had with me. Several tries and four bleeding fingers later, I was done. I had made a female version of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet uniform. I smile proudly, but grimaced when I saw the pile of failures before it. Oh well, practice makes perfect. With the cloth leftover, I made a simple cloth mask that covered my nose to my mouth. It was actually pretty similar to a bandana. It wouldn't be anything permanent though. I just needed a placeholder until I got my power base built.

I rubbed my forehead with my bandages fingers and grin proudly. Wait a minute. My hand was entirely blue. I stare at it in shock and slap myself mentally. How did I not notice this? For all the skill and intelligence Thrawn's memories gave me, I guess I am pretty dense. Great, now I need gloves to hide them. I'll probably look like a germaphobe now. This most likely means that I shall be turning completely blue sometime in the future. There goes my social life, not that I had one. It'll be hard to have a secret identity with this.

I shake the thought out of my mind and admire my handiwork again. Now all I needed were some boots and a utility belt to carry my light equipment. Then I look the clock and freeze. It's dinner time. Really? It felt like I just got home a couple minutes ago. I make my way upstairs with my new costume to find Dad already cooking. That's weird, I usually cooked dinner. I sit at the table and freeze for the second time today. That bitch. He went around and brought a Wards application. When did he have time to get it? Bastard probably downloaded it online.

He let himself lose this morning to go around me. Quite surprising. I'm proud that my Dad wasn't going to back down, but now I had to fight him again. He was actually being quite a bother. Maybe I could kill him-

My eyes widen and I gag silently. I felt my eyes water a bit and I wipe the tears away. What kind of monster am I? I shouldn't even be thinking that. Dad still hasn't noticed that I was there so I suppressed my thoughts and came up with a plan. One that wouldn't involve killing my Dad. He walked up to the table with dinner.

"Hey Taylor. I came home early so I thought that I would make dinner today." He said placing lasagna on the table. Bastard, he make my favorite food. I glare at him which was much more effective with red eyes and blue hands. He stared at my colorful hands and looked at me in the eyes with a sheepish smile. I glare harder. He made my broke one of Thrawn's rules, don't curse. It simply isn't professional and befitting of a leader.

"I told you I don't want to join the Wards. I got a plan." I replied while ignoring his statement. I keep my voice calm. After all, getting verbally angry would escalate the problem and simply make it worst.

"Well you didn't really explain what your so called plan is. I don't want you to get hurt. You're all I have left Taylor." Dad said hardening his gaze. I see now, he waited for a better moment to be prepared. Time to pull my thinker bullshit on him now.

"You didn't ask Father." I replied coldly. He visibly flinched as I said that. I place my hands in front of my and stood up. "All you had to do was ask me."

The look he gave me meant get on with it. His blood pressure remained steady, though it looked as it's bound to explode at a moments second.

"I'm going to clean up the Bay. The E88, ABB and Merchants, they are all a parasite leaching on the Bay. I'm not planning a one woman crusade Dad, I plan on starting my own organization not bound by the laws which limit the Protectorate. I will pull them apart piece by piece. They will become the architects of their own destruction." I said with conviction in my voice. Dad looked visibly torn as he listened to me. He then straightened himself and replied.

"And how do you plan on doing that? You're only one person and only 15 at that!" Dad argued in return as his blood pressure rose. Excellent, it's time to unleash my metaphorical trap card. I let a smirk show on my face.

"Dad, Thrawn is the most brilliant tactician ever. He defeated a fleet with only one ship. He can see things that no normal human can. I don't know why I triggered with his memories, but one is for certain." I answered him and licked my lips. "I am Thrawn. Not in the literal sense, but as a title. From now on I am Thrawn's successor. I will make him proud. I will make you and Mom proud." I grab the Ward application and ripped it apart. Dad kept staring at me in shock before sitting on the chair with a hand touching his forehead.

It took him a minute, but he looked up at me with a small smile on his face. Dad placed a hand on my cheek softly and spoke.

"Times like these remind me that you are your Mother's daughter. I can see plainly that I can't change your mind. Hell, I could never change Annette's mind once she focused on something."

I raise my eyebrow suspiciously. Dad rarely talked about Mom since she passed. This wasn't quite what I expected. Before I could opened my mouth, he spoke again interrupting me.

"How can I help?"


	8. 7

I stared at Dad in shock. This wasn't what I was expecting at all, especially from him. Dad stood up and laid a hand on my shoulder in a fatherly way. It felt, weird.

"By the way, you're grounded. That's not a real plan." He said with a grin on his face. I let a amused smile show on my face. This was to show that I appreciate his antics.

"Sure." I replied with a goofy grin on my face. "I need a taser, baton, combat boots and a tactical vest." I poked Dad's chest and made a list in my mind. Keeping my smile, I kissed him on the cheek and sat back at the table again.

Dad stared at me before shrugging. Good, he better expect more antics in the future. I start eating my fill of the savory food Dad made.

"Save some for me Kiddo." He simply said as he served some for himself before I ate it all. I am a growing girl after all. We then finished our meal in peace.

Afterwards we went our separate ways. I went upstairs to plan, while Dad made his way to his recliner to watch some sports game.

I sat at my desk with a notebook and pen. Quite primitive I know. A terminal would be so much better, but the computer I had in my room only had slow WiFi. It was the main reason why I went to the library, but it should do the job.

After an eternity waiting for the computer to boot up, I finally got on the PHO. The first thing I needed to do, was build a solid power base of normal people that'll form the majority of the organization. Then I'll need to recruit parahumans to provide support. I bite my lip softly as I ran several plans through my mind.

Ha I got it. Each gang in the city attracts different groups to them. The E88 to white people, ABB to Asians, and the Merchants to low life drug addicts. All I need to do is find a group demographic to attract. All Asians were considered part of the ABB so that left most of them out of the equation. I could try to attract people who want to make the city better, but they probably won't believe in the organization until we do something big.

I rub my forehead and look at different census websites regarding Brockton Bay. Unemployment seems to be on the rise. Wait a minute, that's the answer to my problem! People need jobs, but there isn't many left with the ferry closed. Dad was the head of hiring and is the spokesperson for the Dockworkers. I let a grin form on my face. Dad is the key to getting my power base built. He has access to tons of people's information, and knows who really needs a job.

Before I go out and find people to recruit thought, I need to make my debut. They won't follow some random parahuman who just came out of the works. Plus I also need money to get equipment for them. Writing down information in my notebook, I made notes on how to proceed.

I suppose I could raid a few Merchant locations and steal their money and drugs. The drugs I'll give to the PRT as they give bounties to capes who turn them in. I could even steal a gun from one of their members and no one would be the wiser. I doubt they would rattle off that they lost a gun they probably obtained illegally. I felt a yawn escape me and I blushed. I guess that meant it's time to sleep for now.

Changing into my pajamas, I turned off the lights and went to bed.

 _I was standing on the bridge of a Star Destroyer overlooking a massive fleet. I looked down, and I was completely. Was this another one of Thrawn's memories? Suddenly, I felt a hand touch my shoulder and I was staring into deep red eyes._

" _Hello Miss Hebert." Thrawn said calmly with his accented voice. He was dressed in his impeccable white uniform that only a Grand Admiral could wear._

" _You-you're dead." I stuttered out. I touch his chest and it flows through him like nothing._

" _You are correct about that." He replied with a small smirk on his face. Gosh I hated it._

" _How are you even here?" I screeched loudly as I looked around me. The crew members around us were looking at us weirdly._

" _I'm not. I'm a figment of your imagination. Your subconscious if you will formed from the memories of the good Admiral." Thrawn explained slowly like I was stupid. I glared at him. "Haven't you noticed the small changes in your behavior?"_

" _What?" I felt myself whisper softly._

" _You don't walk like the bullied girl at Winslow anymore. Each step is calculated, professional. You act more confident." His eyes stare deep into my soul. "You analyze people without noticing it, you even thought about killing your own father, the only family you have left."_

 _I felt dream tears flow out of my eyes. "I'm a monster." I sob out softly. Thrawn doesn't move from his spot._

" _We are a monster you mean, but I wouldn't go that far. All I did was follow orders to the best of my ability, which lead to countless deaths. You were simply thinking of a possibility, but did not act on it." He corrected me. I look up at him confused. "I am you Miss Hebert."_

" _What?" I tilted my head. "And call me Taylor."_

" _Despite all of my memories you still are a little girl aren't you. We are becoming one." His gaze hardened. "Soon you won't be the same girl you were before. Our memories aren't going to stay separate. You are Thrawn now."_

 _I stared at Thrawn in horror and spoke before he could._

" _W-why are you telling me this? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I questioned angrily as the scenery around us turned into a camp. Thrawn now had longer hair and was wearing primitive clothing. Dam, his arms are covered in muscle._

" _This is to serve as a warning. Before, you tried suppressing the memories, but now that you are accepting them, I can speak." He answered as he poked the fire. I heard animals and men screaming in the background. He had a smile on his face now. "Don't make the same mistakes I did in my moment of triumph."_

 _Before I could speak, he raised his hand holding a communicator. All I heard were explosions and the world around us started to crumble._

" _Your body is waking up. It's time for you to go Taylor. We can speak later when you are asleep again." He said simply._

" _WAIT!" I shouted as everything around us turned into a bright white light._

I woke up drenched in sweat. Then I grabbed my pillow and screamed into it. Breathing heavily, I let the pillow fall and held my head as I sobbed.

"I-I'm a monster." I whispered softly as I stared at my blue arms.


	9. 8

I stayed in that position for a while. Wiping the tears from my face, I got up and changed into a long sleeved sweater and loose fitting jeans. I looked at the mirror and sagged slightly at my appearance.

My eyes were bloodshot, which was weird considering my eyes were completely red. My hair was all ruffled like a birds and my arms were completely blue. In short, I looked like a mess or the result of some really bad cosplay from Earth Aleph. I sighed and made my way to the door with my sunglasses and a pair of gloves. Then I made my way downstairs to find a note on the refrigerator door.

 _Went out to get your things. I know a guy who knows a guy who can get this stuff at a discount. Be home later. Don't do anything stupid._

Dad

I smiled softly and sighed. All of this was getting weird, especially that revelation not-Thrawn gave me. I went back to my room to brood-I mean plan. I stayed in the room until noon, only leaving to eat or use the restroom.

Dad came home around noon with the equipment I needed. He had gotten me a tactical vest, collapsible baton, a utility belt, combat boots, and a stun gun. I thanked Dad and promised I would repay him as soon as possible.

I took the equipment to my room and prepared myself mentally. Most capes go out as soon as they have a costume without thinking of the consequences, but I have to be different. I donned my costume and I equipped my new tactical vest over it. Then I holster my weapons on my belt and braided my hair into a bun. This would prevent my hair from being grabbed once I get in close and personal with the enemy.

I stared at myself in the mirror. Wow, I looked like a cheap knockoff of Thrawn. Putting my mask on, I looked outside. It was starting to get dark now. Good, time for my first patrol. It wouldn't be smart to just leave through the front door, so I jumped out my window onto the tree and climbed my way down. Honestly, there were so many different way I could do this, but I was bored so cut me some slack.

It took me a while, but I managed to reach an area that was known to be Merchant territory. I stayed near the dark alleyways using the advantage of my dark colored clothes. Soon I came across a group mugging a young, dark skinned girl who couldn't be more than a year or two younger than me. Disgusting parasites that feed on humanity. I felt Thrawn's military training and took the baton out of its resting place.

Analyzing the situation, I decided to attack the most dangerous of the five, the one holding a knife. _His legs and arms are shaking. Most likely high._ Extending the baton, I charged and kicked him in his crotch, a crude but effective way of disabling men.

He went down cussing and squealing, meanwhile I slapped the one next to him in the face with the baton at full force. _He was not expecting the hit to his face._

"What the-" I heard one scream before a quick swing to his face got him on the ground. I turned to the remaining three gangbangers eft. The teen they were robbing was screaming as he crawled got the side of the building.

"It's a cape Moe. Look at em eyes." The bigger one with a bald head stated. _Eyes are wild, most likely about to overdose._ Well, no shit Sherlock. The one in the middle had a bowl haircut while the third one had red curly hair on the sides. _His face temperature rises at a constant rate._

The one now identified as 'Moe' began to speak. _He isn't high like the other ones._

"So what! Kill him!" He screamed as he pulled out a stiletto and charged. I moved to the side when he got close and slammed his knee with my baton. _Cracking means the bone is broken._

The fat one grabbed me from behind and held my arms close to me.

"Get em Larry, HURRY." He squealed holding my as tight as he could. _Voice level indicating he is terrified._ I stomped hard on his foot which made him scream. Then I proceeded to shoot 'Larry' in the chest with the stun gun as I knocked the fatty out.

I was soon the only one left standing with the victim leaning against a wall. Well, that went pretty decent for my first time out. I didn't have much time to think and most of the fight was left to adrenaline and Thrawn's instinct. I sighed softly, I could have performed better. Then I began rummaging through the pockets of the low lives I knocked out. Then, I made my way to the victim.

"Are you ok? What's your name?" I asked slowly in case of shock as I felt my accent escape me. _Her face temperature is high and his eyes are looking me up and down._

"I-I'm Aisha. Thank you for saving me." She replied feeling more confident. Wow, she was certainly younger than me, and she already had curves and bigger breast than me. So unfair! Pushing those unnecessary thoughts away, I nodded in return and motioned to the unconscious bodies laying around.

"I suggest you call the police and inform them of what happened here."

She took out her phone and started typing at a fast pace. Then I proceeded to take my leave. I ran into several other groups of Merchants, and proceeded to beat them to a pulp. It was good practice really. After a while, I made my way back home under the cover of darkness.

Using my vision to make sure no one saw me, I climbed back up the tree and into my room. The lights were on surprisingly. Dad most likely noticed me gone and decided to stay up till I returned.

I took off my costume and changed into my pajamas. It was late, but I didn't really see myself going back to school, not in this state. Then I heard a knock at the door.

"Taylor?" I heard Dad's voice come from the other side of the door.

"Come in."

He did just so and sat on my bed. _His blood pressure is stable._ Good, he probably wasn't mad that I snuck out.

"You know you could have told me you were going out." He said with a deadpan voice.

"Yeaaah, sorry Dad. I'll be sure to do so next time." I replied automatically with my accent gone. Dad smiled in return and ruffled my hair, which was now out of its bun.

"Sleep tight kiddo."

I nodded smiling as he left. The smile left as soon as the door closed and I fell back onto my bed. Then my dreams took me.

 _I was back in the forest where I last saw Thrawn. The thing was, he wasn't here this time. I shrugged and walked towards the smoke in the distance. Then, I felt a pair of arms grab and here me towards some bushes._

" _Oomph." I grunted as the hard ground met my face. I looked up and glared at a very blue face. Before I opened my mouth, Not-Thrawn held his hand over it preventing me from speaking. He motioned his head to the path I was on._

 _Standing there, was a squad of Imperial Navy troopers. I moved his hands off my mouth, but kept silent until they left._

" _Really?" I asked sitting up awkwardly. Thrawn kept a small smile on his face and nodded._

" _Anyways I want to run my plan through you and see what you think."_

" _Very well." He responded in his deep voice._

 _After a few moments of explaining, he decided to speak up._

" _You're too narrow minded." He said and held his hand up as I opened my mouth. "You are focusing on just a small fraction of the population. Of course it is a good plan starting out, but then you'll need more manpower once you have the majority of the unemployed."_

 _That...actually made sense. He kept on talking._

" _You will want to appeal to the Mexican and Black community's in the city. While not as large as the Asians or whites, there is a decent population of them in Brockton Bay. Offer them protection from the ABB and the Empire and soon you'll have a solid power base. You'll want to preach equality for all races and creeds."_

 _I nodded in confirmation. Not-Thrawn patted my head mockingly and pulled out a slingshot filled with berries. "By the way, I counted several mistakes you made in that fight."_

 _Before I could complain to him, everything around me turned white._

A/N  
Im really glad that story is doing really good! I hope everyone is enjoying reading this as much as I enjoy writing it. Feel free to comment and check out my other stories.


	10. Interlude 1

Armsmaster POV

Armsmaster was having a normal day, in his opinion anyway, until he was called to respond to possible cape activity. Apparently, a young girl was in the middle of being mugged and possibly raped, when an unknown cape appeared out of nowhere and saved her. This lead him to his current predicament, dealing with a teenager.

"Could you provide a description?" Armsmaster asked the young victim, identities as Aisha Laborn. They were standing off to the side of the crime scene as the police lead all of the Merchant thugs towards a police van.

"She has glowing red eyes and was wearing a bulletproof vest over her costume." Aisha replied as she stretched. The paramedics had finished looking over her and declared she was fine aside from the few bruises she gained. At first, she refused to speak until her older brother was present, until he assured her that she wasn't going to be PRT building for more intense questioning. It wouldn't be efficient to force a statement from her.

"I see." Armsmaster said simply. Red eyes and female. Apparently, the new cape was female and had red eyes, possibly a case 53. Security cameras in the area showed that the cape was thin and had her hair in a bun, all suggesting she was a female. This would help narrow his search.

"Thank you for your cooperation." He said and made his way to his motorcycle. Armsmaster let the suit take autopilot as he brought up some files. If he was lucky, then this cape was related to the Ward application that was printed the other day. Arriving at headquarters, Armsmaster made his way to his lab to do further research. It was possible that the new cape was a tinker, which was primary reason why he was interested in this new cape.

"Hello Colin."

"Dragon." Colin said simply as he took off his helmet and placed it on a workbench. He liked working with Dragon, she was very efficient in her work.

"Any luck finding out who the new cape is?" Dragon asked through her avatar on his screen. She had a small smile on her face.

"For now I've named the new cape Chimera until she comes forward with her actual cape name. I've also managed to narrow it down on my way back to the lab." He replied as he brought up a picture of a middle aged man.

"Around 11 am yesterday, Danny Hebert visited the Ward website and printed an application. Apparently, in January his daughter was the victim of a bullying campaign and was shoved into a locker filled with biological waste. This was most likely her trigger event, but we won't be able to confirm as the hospital decided NOT to do MRI at the time." Colin explained as he brought up the police and hospital record. "The case was dropped and nothing came of it. However, one of the perpetrators named was one Sophia Hess."

Dragon's avatars expression changed slightly to show one of shock. Her expression then changed to one of quiet fury.

"This was some under the Protectorates watch. You're responsible for her." She said calmly.

"The Wards are under Director Piggot's jurisdiction." Armsmaster nodded as he fiddled with one of his halberds.

"I quite agree as if the public found out that one of our Wards bullied a girl into triggering, our PR would drop." He said not looking at the screen. Colin personally didn't care much for PR, but he had to agree that it made fighting crime much easier when they had the people's support. They also did not need another villain in the city.

Dragon's avatar nodded before speaking.

"You need to take this to the Director."

"She won't sacrifice a Ward just because a girl might have triggered. Best case scenario at the moment, Shadow Stalker is on punishment duty and nothing else. The Director won't act unless Taylor Hebert has been confirmed as Chimera." Colin replied as he wiped some sweat off of his forehead. "I will push for punishment detail, but I won't be able to push for more harsher action until I have more proof. Otherwise, the Director will simply sweep it under her rug."

"Do you plan on visiting them?" Dragon asked curiously. "You know that's breaking the unwritten rules right?"

"Tomorrow, studies show that people don't appreciate being woken up early in the morning and I'm taking the risk. We don't need another villain in this city."

Dragon cracked a grin and laughed softly.

Colin looked up at the screen confused.

"What is it? I'm serious."

Aisha POV

Aisha was having a pretty good day, till she almost got mugged. Sure her brother had told her not to go out late, but she was so bored! Luckily, some new cape managed to save her, albeit in a brutal fashion.

Aisha watched in awe as her savior proceeded to beat her would be muggers to a bloody pulp. At first, Aisha mistook her for a villain with her bright glowing red eyes, until the mask cape walked up to her and asked if she was ok. Before the mysterious cape left, she told Aisha to call the police and inform them of what happened. This led to her current predicament, talking to Armsmaster.

He had spent the past five minutes asking for a description and a statement, which she already given the police. It was pretty clear to her the guy was awkward in public.

"I assure you that you won't be taken to the PRT headquarters for more questioning." He had said. Aisha wasn't sure if he was lying, but wanted to go home so she decided to play along.

"Fine, but you'll have to look at the statement I have the police. It's late and I want to go home." She had replied grumbling.

Armsmaster nodded and spoke.

"Could you provide a description?"

"She has glowing red eyes and wore a bulletproof vest over her costume." Aisha said trying to keep her description to a minimum. "I didn't get a good look at her costume."

'I did get a good look at the shape of her legs though.' Aisha thought smugly. She wasn't about to say that though.

"I see. Thank you for your cooperation." Armsmaster simply said and he made his way to his motorcycle.

Aisha stared at his retreating figure and slapped herself mentally. She should have asked for an autograph. Oh well.

She then felt someone tap on her shoulder and she turned around ready to slap whoever touches her.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt?" Brian asked as he looked over her with concern all over his face. Aisha rolled her eyes and nodded.

"I'm fine bro. Some new cape saved me." She responded. Brian looked at her skeptically and pointed to the bruise on her shoulder.

"It's but a flesh wound." Aisha winked and patted her brother on the back. He meant well, but he was too overprotective.

"Let's go home." She said as Brian called a cab. She was sure she would run into the new cape again soon. She could feel it in her stomach.


	11. 9

I woke up the next morning a bit angry. Not-Thrawn was really weird to be honest. As I thought about it, I realized I was mostly talking to myself when I spoke to Not-Thrawn. I leaned up on my bed and stared at my clock. I had overslept, not like I was going to school anyway. If I had gone, I would instantly be targeted by Emma and her gang for wearing sunglasses and gloves inside the school. That fact that my entire body is slowly turning blue does not exactly help my case either. Besides, it is kinda obvious that I won't be needing high school either with the career path I am going through.

At the rate this transformation was advancing, I might either have to go public or stay a shut-in at the moment. I didn't like either option, but I suppose I could make this work. I grimaced as I got up and changed into my work out clothes, which consisted of some loose workout pants and an oversized hoodie. Good thing I don't like to show skin at all. So far the only part of my body that wasn't blue was my head, and due to not being able to go out on my run, I decided to do a far more conventional workout at home with push ups, sit ups, and jumping jacks. This would help keep my fit and combat ready.

Dad had left for work as usual, and I guess it was pretty obvious to him I wasn't going back to school. I had some concerns with his previous actions though. He had printed out a copy of the Wards application, and I'm sure the PRT isn't stupid enough to not monitor who visited the website. They also most likely can find out who printed an application.

The PRT will most likely be able to trace Dad to me through my hospital records. Research on PHO shows that every cape goes through a trigger event, and I'm pretty sure my locker scene could count as mine. Only an idiot wouldn't notice the signs.

After my workout, I went to take a shower. I felt my brain go into overdrive, as I felt the water cascade down my changing body. If the PRT could figure out my identity, then that meant that the gangs could as well. Stepping out of the shower with my towel, I stared at myself in the mirror. Everything was blue, or varying shades of blue to blue-black. My neck was slowly turning blue. I could consider myself to be actually beautiful, in a weird alien way. I leaned towards the mirror and pulled on my hair. The roots were slowly shifting to a blue-black color.

Then, I made my way to my room to get changed. After I donned a long sweater, loose jeans and placing my baton in my back pocket, I made my way downstairs to see if there are any weak spots in our houses security. It seemed there wasn't much to i could do with our limited family funds, and so went back inside and turned on the tv. The channel Dad left it on appeared to the news.

"Yesterday night a new cape was reported saving a young girl from an attempted mugging." Said the male news reporter. I forgot what his name was.

"The PRT had this to say, 'This new vigilante has been given the name Chimera until they come forward stating their chosen name." His female co-reporter stated as a video of me beating those Merchant thugs played in the top right. Judging from the angle, I believe they took it from a traffic camera. Naturally, they blurred out everyone's faces in the video, most likely to preserve their identity. I changed the channel to some sports channel and turned it off.

If the PRT came, I wanted it to seem like nobody was home. I could feign not being home once Dad came back.

Then, I made my way back upstairs to my room, when the doorbell rang. Shit, that was faster than I expected. Grabbing my baton, I slowly made my way got the door. I wasn't planning on opening it if it was the PRT.

Peeking through eye hole, my eyes widened slightly in shock. That Aisha girl that I saved yesterday was standing on the porch. How the hell did she find me? I felt my anger rise slightly, but I suppressed it down. If she could find me, then the PRT definitely could. Aisha grinned and leaned up to the eye hole.

"I know you're home, Taylor. After all, it's not like you came to school today."

What…..

"Let me in, and I'll explain everything." She said a bit loud. Her voice was muffled by the door. I opened the door quickly and pulled her in.

She was surprisingly quiet as I forced her inside. I glared at her, pulled out my baton, and held it menacingly.

"Explain now," I growled out. I did not like this situation one bit.

Aisha held her hands in the air in a mocking way as she grinned.

"It was hard to narrow it down. It was pretty obvious you triggered with that locker thingy, and you didn't show up to school." Aisha revealed as she kept her smile. "You started to walk more confidently and somehow figured out how to avoid your tormentors."

Wait, she knew about the locker. I glared at her, and she flinched slightly. Good thing to know and to not forget.

"How do you know all this?" I asked coldly. The only possible explanations for this weren't precisely good things. First, she was a creepy stalker and second, she went to Winslow. That meant she stood by and watched me get bullied by everyone. Suppressing my anger, I calmed down and glared at her. It would be social suicide to have tried helping me.

"Well, I kinda go to Winslow." She said awkwardly looking at the ground. That explained it a bit. "Before you get mad you must know that-."

I interrupted her. "I know it's social suicide."

Aisha looked back up at me confused.

"A black freshman girl would instantly be targeted by the entire student body. You would have no protection as Emma would target you and leave you open to assaults from the ABB and Empire. The only option would be to transfer schools or hope that joining the Merchants would help protect you. You do know you're breaking the unwritten rules right?" I had come across the unwritten rules during my research on the cape scene. Frankly, it was more about honor and fear of escalation that kept it enforced. Kaiser had the dude that killed Fleur torn apart after all.

Aisha nodded slowly as I kept my glare fixed on her. Her temperature was rising, and her face was bright red.

"Yeaaah." She said drawing out the word. It was obvious she was nervous. After all, she did basically walk up to a cape saying that she knows their identity.

"If you tell anyone, I will find you." I threatened with a growl. Not-Thrawn would be so disappointed with the way I handled this situation.

Aisha nodded her head furiously and looked side to side. "I got to go before my brother wonders where I am. Got a PHO account?"

I shook my head no, and I holstered my baton.

"Phone number?" Another no.

"Wow...you're the best cape ever." She said sarcastically. Her temperature lowers slowly. Aisha is most likely becoming more comfortable.

"Sure," I replied dryly. This was getting annoying now.

"I think I should go..."

"You should."

There was an awkward silence as the door closed behind her.

"Well, that could have gone better," I said out loud to no one in particular. I really need to shape up my act and be more professional. Then, there was another knock at the door.

I sighed softly and peeked through the hole again. It wasn't Aisha standing on the porch now, it was a middle-aged man with a beard.

What a total coincidence? What is this? Blow someone's identity day?

He was white so that left out the ABB, possibly Empire? I moved from the door and peeked through the window. There was an unmarked van parked outside the driveway. That is...totally not suspicious. Possible PRT agent maybe or a cape in disguise. The only cape that came to mind that had a beard was Armsmaster unless it was fake and plenty of other capes wore mask or helmets that covered their entire face. There were too many variables here.

I move away from the window and slowly took out my baton. Only an idiot would open that door, and I wasn't about to be taken by surprise or forced into a position to make uninformed decisions.

Armsmaster POV

Colin sighed internally as he knocked one more times. He was about to leave his lab wearing his armor when Dragon told him that would merely intimidate Chimera and possibly drive them away.

"Heat signature shows there is one person in the house." He heard Dragon speak through his earpiece. It had taken him a while to convince her to support him in this endeavor. Colin had to quote that the PRT needed every cape they could get if they wanted to keep the city from falling to the gangs.

"Daniel Hebert was spotted leaving the house earlier this morning. Agents also spotted Aisha Laborn entering and leaving before we arrived." That was interesting. There was a high chance that Miss Laborn had figured out Chimera's identity as well. Another reason to try and recruit her. The PRT made it clear how long independents lasted after all.

"It'll be illegal to move in without a permit." Colin heard Dragon say to him. He grunted in response. That would hurt their presence with the public if word got out, which always did. Before Colin could respond, an explosion sounded throughout the neighborhood.

"COLIN." He heard Dragon shout through his earpiece.

"Report." He spoke through his communicator. An Agent responded seconds later.

"Lung has engaged the Undersiders. Repeat, Lung has engaged the Undersiders. All Protectorate members are to respond." Colin was immediately making his way to the van.

"Knew I should have shown up in my armor." He grumbled under his breath. He supposed they could come back to this later.


	12. 10

I was not expecting an explosion this close to home, I wasn't even expecting one in general! I ran upstairs to my room and grabbed my costume. My house was most likely being watched so I wasn't about to walk out wearing my costume. Putting my stuff in a backpack, I grabbed my sunglasses, and walked out. Good thing I was wearing my gloves when Aisha came.

The smell of smoke hit me as soon as I stepped out. That explosion couldn't have happened more than a couple blocks away. A large pillar of smoke was visible, so I made my way towards it, only stopping to change into my costume in an alleyway. However, I soon saw several men wearing black suits follow me. I doubt they were PRT, so that left one of the gangs. This confirmed that my identity had been compromised. I ignored them in favor of heading to assist whatever had happened.

I soon came across what seemed to be a battlefield. Lung, who had already grown several feet and was on fire, was engaging Armsmaster and the rest of the Protectorate in a fierce battle. The dead bodies of ABB members littered the street, along with charred PRT agents. I felt bile rise up in my throat, but I pushed it down and hardened my gaze. Thrawn had seen things a thousand times worse than this.

I would only get in the way if I moved it so I stayed to the side as I made my way to a PRT van. Knocking on the side door, I held my arms in the air as a PRT agent aimed their containment foam hose at me as another opened the door.

"I'm friendly." I said instantly. The agent's featureless mask tilted to the side and pressed a button on the side of their helmet.

"Sir, its Chimera." Their voice was distorted and slightly muffled by the helmet. My vision couldn't see their body temperature through their armor.

The agent handed me a communicator silently after a small silence.

"Hello?" I felt myself say. The battle was still raging behind us.

"This is Director Piggot. Chimera I presume." I heard a terse voice respond to me. I had only seen videos of her during those PRT press conferences. She was a strong, but heavy set woman who had done her best in a dying city.

"I haven't chosen that name, but it shall do for now." I answered a bit loudly. New Wave was here now, I could tell because I saw Panacea already healing injured PRT officers and I could hear Glory Girl cursing Lung out. "How may I be of assistance?"

"What can you do?" Quite a clever way of asking what my powers can do. She was truly a cunning woman. I wasn't about to tell the whole truth so I replied.

"I'm a combat thinker. Battlefield planning and analysis." Best to leave out a possible low level tinker.

"I see..hand this communicator back to Officer Jenkins." I did as she said. Jenkins listened to whatever the Director said before saying affirmative. Jenkins fiddled with the communicator, before handing it back to me.

"Do your magic." They said before closing the door. I made my way to a better vantage point, which was on the corner of a ruined building. Then, I felt my logical side flow through me. I stared at Lung for what felt like the longest, before I activated the communicator.

"This is Chimera. Lung is repeating the same motions." I spoke softly amid the battle.

"Wait what? Chimera?" I heard a male voice respond.

"Combat thinker. Armsmaster duck right."

Armsmaster dodged a blow from Lung as he followed my command. I felt a smirk fork underneath my mask. Nice to see that even a monster can have patterns.

"Miss Militia move back and provide support for Velocity."

I saw her body tense up a little. I couldn't read any of their body temperatures with them this close to Lung.

"Armsmaster?" I heard one of the ask. These bastards really wanted to die huh.

"DO AS SHE SAYS." He shouted through the communicator. Armsmaster had dodged another attack when he responded.

"Good. Miss Militia move back and neutralize Lung's eyes. Keep repeating it whenever they regenerate." I ordered. It was surreal experience, ordering around the hero's I grew up admiring.

I could see Miss Militia nod from where I stood as she did as I commanded. Holding the communicator to my mouth I spoke again.

"See the pattern where he swings his arms. He is used to fighting multiple opponents due to the lack of capes in his gang. Use your arc lance to keep him at bay Dauntless."

Then, I heard a loud noise and I looked up. Dragon was here now, good.

"Velocity, keep moving. Distract him. Assault stay back and provide support for Battery. The three of you are to distract him. Dragon, eliminate his wings." The fire was spreading to the nearby buildings. "All PRT agents are to prevent the fires from spreading until the firefighters arrive. New Wave, if you can hear me, form a perimeter and assist with the evacuation of the area. Keep an eye out for Oni Lee."

Gunshots from Miss Militia's gun kept sounding out every once in a while, but Lung was still as fast as usually was. He did just swat Glory Girl out of the air as she ignored my order. Good, this proved that rumor on PHO discussing the theory about him having superhuman senses. Wait a minute, Glory Girl's aura. Her aura is probably increasing Lung's growth!

"GLORY GIRL FALL BACK." I shouted through the communicator. "YOU'RE MAKING HIM BIGGER."

Glory Girl was visibly startled by my shout and fell back after her mother agreed with me. I'll probably get punched for it later, but it will be a sacrifice worth making.

"Armsmaster, play a loud siren from your armors speaker when I say so." Armsmaster was constantly moving out of Lungs way. Was that a possible thinker power or a possible prediction feature of his armor? Another possibility would be that he noticed the pattern I pointed out. Velocity was then scorched by some of Lung's flame and fell.

"Assault and Battery evacuate Velocity. Does anyone have a way to knock Lung out?" I asked calmly. Tinkers are bullshit, and Lung has been a thorn in this city for too long. I would be surprised if someone hasn't tried coming up with a way.

"I have some prototype tranquilizers designed specifically for Lung." Wow, and he hasn't tried using them? Dragon's suit then landed on the ground and tackled Lung.

"Good. Dragon hold Lung down. Armsmaster, deploy sound and move in with the tranquilizer on the left. Aim for the weakest spot. Dauntless, move in from the right and support Armsmaster." Armsmaster took advantage of the situation and started to slash at Lung's arm. Then, he jammed the tip of his halberd where he chipped off Lung's dragon like scales. Dauntless was doing the same with his lance, to a lesser degree.

Lung's fires soon started to recede and I felt a smile form on my face. I had assisted in taking out Lung! Albeit I just gave some simple commands which were really obvious. Now that I thought about, the Protectorate could have taken him out in the beginning if Armsmaster had simply used his tranquilizers. The most effective way to defeat Lung would be to knock him out before he could ramp up. He doesn't use an actual fighting style and instead uses his abilities to mow through the enemy. Simple, but effective.

Before I could take a step forward, a white blur landed in front of me. Then, I felt a sense of awe come over me, before I suppressed it and glared at Glory Girl. She had a big smile on her face and her blonde hair stood out amid her white costume.

"So you're Chimera." She said looking me up and down. "Homemade?"

"That is not the name I chose and yes. I made it myself." I replied analyzing her and remembering points from the fight. She didn't have a definitive fighting style, and often adapts to who she is fighting. Glory Girl, aka Victoria Dallon, mostly relies on her aura and invulnerability in her fights.

"Cool. I like your eyes. It's nice having a new female cape in town that isn't a jerk." She said casually as she floating around me inspectingly. "Gonna be hard keeping an identity right?"

I turned my head to look at her. "I use sunglasses to hide my eyes." I needed to leave before Dad gets home.

"No, no. I mean your face is completely blue. It's looks pretty."

Shit, that was faster than expected. I keep my expression calm, and then I heard a male voice speak behind me.

"Chimera, we need to talk." I turned around and saw Armsmaster with Miss Militia next to him. Wow...

GO AHEAD WORLD. PILE EVERYTHING ON.


	13. Interlude 2

Lisa POV

Lisa didn't get weird orders often, but when they happened, they really didn't make sense and she had a thinker power for Christ sake!

"Are you sure about this sir?" She asked as she spoke to her 'employer' on the phone. He wants us to be a distraction. For what? Not enough info. Possible new patahuman. Taylor? Red eyes. Can't read. Lisa tuned her power out to prevent another headache.

Imagine her surprise when the boss decided to call her and asked Lisa to plan the most idiotic plan she ever made.

'Don't question me, just do it." The reply came before the line was cut. Lisa sighed and rubbed her forehead. Robbing an ABB storehouse in the middle of the day wasn't what she would consider good planning. Especially since they didn't have prep time. Maybe she could ask Taylor for some help? Nah, she had faith that Taylor could pull it off her plan of setting Lisa free. Yeah no, but it was worth a shot and she wasn't about to waste it.

"We got a new job?" Lisa turned around to see Brian coming out of the shower with a rather large towel wrapped around him.

"Yeah. ABB storehouse."

"Cool, when?"

"Now." Was her only response.

"Shit. Alec and Bitch aren't going to like it." He grimaced. Does not believe the heist will work. Concern for the safety of his sister. She almost got mugged, but was saved by a new cape recently.

Lisa felt like she wouldn't either.

Coil POV

When Coil heard that there was a new cape in town, he was interested, especially since this new cape had also peaked the interest of Armsmaster. Naturally, dutiful Armsmaster made a report detailing his findings, which of course, landed in Thomas Calvert hands.

Coil sat in his office in an undisclosed location with several monitors. He split the timeline.

Timeline A

"Move in." He ordered and his mercenaries moved in on the house. Surprisingly, the girl was ready for them and neutralized most of his men before running out onto the street, alerting a pair of Empire goons who instantly called her a jotun, moved in to save her. It didn't help that Armsmaster arrived soon after. Coil typed a new entry in his computer.

Chimera is a paranoid teenager. She often looks for the best way to neutralize her opponent and strikes. Possible thinker power.

He closed the timeline, it was getting too public in this particular one.

Timeline B

"Hold positions."

He watched as his mercenaries drive by the house. Soon, a young girl walked up to the door, before being let in and left moments later. Interesting, he would keep that in mind for the future. Armsmaster soon arrived in a PRT van and left as soon as an explosion happened a couple blocks away. Coil felt a smirk from underneath his mask. It had taken him a few times, but he managed to get a timeline where Lung himself showed up.

He decided to keep this one going, after all, he knew exactly where Taylor Hebert lived.

"Squad 1 follows her, but don't engage." Coil ordered calmly. Sure he could keep trying and eventually get her, but where was the fun in that? Soon, he got a phone call.

"What is it?" He asked sharply.

"Lung has engaged the Protectorate. We got out during the confusion, but Regent was injured."

"I see. I'll arrange for a doctor to check on him." Coil then hanged up. Lung would be after the heads of the Undersiders now, not that Coil cared. He could just keep splitting the timeline and keep the one where they survived. Well, the one where most of them survive. Coil could always get more capes, the only one he really needed was Tattletale.

"Target has met up with the PRT."

"Good, fall back to base." Coil smirked. Patience is a virtue after all.

Victoria POV

When Vicky found out there was a new cape in town, she was excited, especially since rumor had it that the cape was a girl. What can she say? She loved to make friends, especially with a lack of female hero's her age that aren't assholes. This lead to her current situation, standing next to Chimera as she stared down Armsmaster and Miss Militia, two of the best heroes in the city.

"Greetings Armsmaster, Miss Militia. It is an honor to finally make your acquaintance." Chimera said calmly. Victoria couldn't place her accent though, it sounded like a mix of different ones.

"Hello. As Armsmaster said, we need you to come with us to give a statement among other things." Miss Militia said softly stepping forward slightly.

"I am afraid I must decline at this moment." Chimera countered before handing them some type of PRT communicator. "However, I do believe this is PRT property. I would not like being accused of stealing government property." Damn, this girl was smooth. Not everyone had common sense.

Armsmaster opened his mouth to speak before nodding. "Thank you for your assistance." He extended his hand. That was….extremely out of character for him. Chimera stared him for a second for shaking it. Victoria could see the curious glint in her eyes.

"It was nothing. A hero must do their best for the people. Now, I believe there is a rather large Asian man you must transport to your headquarters."

Boths veterans hero's looked at each other before saying goodbye and left.

Chimera was starting to leave before Vicky floated in front of her and handed her a piece of paper.

"Call this number if you ever want to go on patrol."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. A pleasure meeting you." Chimera nodded and left soon after.

Victoria sighed and flew back to where Amy was standing over a wounded soldier. 'That's some weird girl.' She thought curiously. 'Maybe she's bipolar?'

"Ready to head to the hospital?" Vicky asked Amy, who proceeded to sigh and nod.

"Yeah. Why were you talking to that new cape?" Amy replied as Victoria picked her up.

"From what I hear, she's a thinker." Amy groaned and slapped her forehead.

"You do know that doesn't mean she'll be able to read Dean's mind right?" Amy asked as she looked out st the city below them.

"Worth a try." Victoria winked and laughed. "She seems nice and I need people to go on patrol with. Remember Miss Piggy banned me from patrols with the Wards?"

"Yeah yeah. It's your fault for punching Mush into that building."

"It's not my fault he flew straight into my fist." Victoria countered. They spent the rest of the flight to the hospital bickering.


	14. 11

Gerry needed a job. The Docks have been going downhill ever since Leviathan appeared and closed most shipping lanes. Brockton Bay is a dying animal with parasites sucking on its remaining life force, and it made Gerry sad. He lived in the city his entire life, but there was nothing he could do. That is, until now. He had received an email detailing something big while revealing nothing. It gave him a date, time and location, but not much else.

Gerry was planning on ignoring it and going on with life, when his son got mugged by a pair of Empire thugs. With work being scarce with the Dockworkers, he decided to take the risk and show up.

He arrived at an abandoned warehouse hidden deep inside the Docks. Gerry saw a handful of other people enter the designated warehouse as well and shrugged. Safety in numbers he guessed. He walked in and saw a large crowd gathering around a makeshift stage.

"What the hell is this shit? Some sort of cult?" He asked around. Turned out a bunch of guys from the Docks were there. That made Gerry feel a little better.

"No it is not." A loud calm voice sounded out and a figure walked onto the stage. She was wearing a all black costume that looked more like a uniform with a Kevlar vest over it. Her eyes were a deep glowing red, and what he could see of her face was blue.

"You're Chimera." He heard someone say and he opened his mouth slightly. She was the cape that was on a one-woman crusade against the Merchants and was one of the main reasons the Protectorate captured Lung!

Gerry then heard people start to shout when she held a hand up and spoke again loudly.

"That is the name I was given, but not the one I chose." She said in response before speaking again. "I am the one who sent those emails." He could see her eyes look over the crowd. They were terrifying, but Gerry couldn't look away.

"I have called you all here for a reason. You all know that Brockton Bay is dying a slow and painful death, but I am here to fix it." Gerry felt her eyes stare deep into his soul.

"How can you fix it? The PRT and the Protectorate can't do shit!" He heard some guy shout from the crowd. Chimera looked at him and Gerry swore he saw her smile.

"I plan on formation a new organization to rival the gangs and the PRT. It will not be bound by the rules and regulations of the PRT, but will not go corrupt and cause injustice like the gangs. This organization will bring all of the gangs to their knees and ensure to make Brockton Bay a city for its people."

"You've got to be shitting me." Gerry mumbled under his breath softly. She seemed to confident too!

"I am the one who gave the orders that captured Lung. I am Thrawn." Chime-no, Gerry paused. Thrawn spoke calmly, yet loudly.

"Anyone here is free to leave if they so wish, but know that if you join me, we will make Brockton Bay into something new. Now, I will say this only once, ARE YOU WITH ME."

The crowd erupted into cheers and Gerry was among them. He pushed any away thoughts that said that Thrawn's plan would fail. Thrawn didn't speak until everyone had calmed down. Gerry didn't hear though, he was excited.

L33T POV

When L33T first triggered, he was soaring through the clouds. He could create practically anything and was an amazing tinker. That flying L33T crashed and burned when he found out about his limitations. He could only create one thing, any following copies have a high chance of exploding or malfunctioning. It made L33T's temper rise whenever someone called him the useless tinker, Uber and Loser. L33T remembered going on a ramage out on the streets after figuring it out. After all, he wouldn't want to damage anything in his now precious lab. That changed one day, when he received an email as well as a message on PHO. Both of the messages were asking, not just for Uber, but for L33T as well. Apparently it was a sort of business proposition. It made both of them a bit paranoid to be honest.

The duo had pissed off a lot of people in Brockton Bay for their quest for shits and giggles. This led to their current dinner arrangements at a rundown cafe that was known to be neutral ground in Brockton Bay. L33T flinched slightly at the sight of a cockroach crawling on the side of the walls.

"Remind me to blow this place if we ever do Bomberman." L33T muttered to Uber who nodded in agreement. "This place is disgusting! I'll have to clean this boots once we get back home."

Then, the door to the cafe opened and a thin figure walked in. Her hair was done in a tight bun, and she wore a dark uniform with different symbols. Standing next to her, were two large men dressed in a uniform similar to hers in grey version.

L33T was about to do a wolf whistle, when she turned her face towards him, and a pair of glowing red eyes stared back. A simple cloth mask with the symbol of some weird creature with multiple heads covered her blue face. Now that he had a proper view, L33T could see that the guys had the same symbol where their heart should be and had a strange symbol on their shoulders. She made her way towards the duo and sat across from them.

"Greetings, Uber, L33T. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Thrawn." She said calmly with an accent L33T couldn't place. Wait a minute, wasn't she that Chimera chick that helped the Protectorate nab Lung?

Never mind that, it's time for him to do the most badass introduction he ever made.

"Sup." Uber facepalmed and L33T cringed on the inside. This is why he leaves the introductions to Uber.

"I'm Uber and this is L33T." Uber took over the conversation seeing L33T's internal dilemma. "Now mind if we skip be pleasantries?"

Thrawn nodded and leaned back in her chair, never once losing eye contact with the duo.

"I would like for the two of you to join the Ascendancy."

Wait what? She wants the both of them to join her group? He had only heard rumors about a new group moving in on the Docks. L33T's anger rose slightly. Was she only asking for him because Uber would come along.

"Calm down Mr. L33T. You might pop a vein with a temper like that." She said with amusement obviously in her voice. "I have a use for you as well, not just your friend." L33T froze slightly, how did she know he was mad? He had perfected the art of not showing anger till the last minute. "I am a combat thinker remember. I can also read your blood pressure and temperature." Her eyes had a mischievous glint to them.

L33T forced himself to calm down and motioned for her to get on with it.

"You see, I am planning on making Brockton Bay great again."

L33T snorted at the reference to a Earth Aleph movie as Uber elbowed his thin form in the side.

"As I said earlier, I want you to join the Ascendancy and come work for me."

L33T was about to respond, when Uber laid a hand on his shoulder.

"What makes you think we'll join you?" Uber asked in his best impression of a lawyer.

"It is because you are tired of people underestimating you. You two are tired of being the laughing stock of this city." Thrawn's message was a bit harsh, but her calm demeanor didn't change. "You want people to respect you for what you are and what you can do."

"What's in it for us?" L33T asked before Uber could shut him up.

"Manpower, protection, respect. I know you stepped on more than a few toes during your escapades online."

Uber nodded slightly and before he could speak, Thrawn spoke.

"And positions of power." L33T tried his best to read her, but couldn't get anything solid. He looked at Uber and it seemed the same was happening to him.

"Well, how much time do we have-"

"I'm in."

Uber stared at L33T in shock as he got up. L33T focused his eyes on Thrawn's own red ones.

"I'm tired of being pushed around and being considered a trashy cape and tinker. I want respect, I want people to take me seriously for once."

The other patrons didn't give them a second look and Thrawn seemed even more amused. Her bodyguards seemed like they were trying their best not to laugh.

Thrawn stood up and extended her hand towards them in a friendly manner.

Uber sighed and shook her hand at the same as L33T. L33T felt a large grin form on his face.

"Welcome, to the Ascendancy gentlemen."


	15. 12

Emily Piggot saw the need for parahumans, but that didn't mean she had to like them. In her opinion, they were all broken messes barely being held together by their power. What she hates the most however, was cleaning up their mess.

"So tell me Armsmaster. Why did you decide to investigate Chimera's identity, by going to her home." She glared at said tinker. The man was brilliant in his lab and in the field, but socially, the man was an awkward robot.

"I decided it was necessary to see if Chimera would be on the side of the light or the dark." He answered cryptically. Man must've been listening to some poetry while he tinkered.

"That's not an excuse to break the unwritten rules and you used a PRT van to investigate her house damn it! If word of this gets leaked out, the public and the gangs will have our head." Personally, Emily didn't care for the unwritten rules, but if she started unmasking villains, then they would escalate as well.

Armsmaster remained silent as he remained standing.

"Then, after she assisted us in defeating Lung, you approach her while she was talking to Glory Girl. Miss Militia's report says that you asked so speak and then promptly let her go. Why?"

"She was revealed to be a thinker. When we spoke, she gave nothing away and spoke in an accent not in any databanks. Chimera saw patterns in Lung's fighting style and promptly adjusted her plan. Add to that fact that Glory Girl was there. Possibly friends." He said dryly. "There is a high chance she may be a social thinker as well and could have turned the conversation around. I let her go to better prepare myself for the next time I confront her."

Emily felt like she should have triggered right there with Legend's power.

"There will be no next time. Any action against or related to her will have to be authorized by me. Is that understood?" Emily replied coldly. If Armsmaster alienated her, she might take refuge in one of the gangs and they would have nothing to gain.

Armsmaster nodded and then spoke again.

"Did you received my report regarding her identity?"

Emily sighed as she brought it up on her computer screen.

"It all matches up well, but you haven't confirmed her identity."

"Actually, I left an undercover agent near the neighborhood. He reported that Taylor Hebert was spotted leaving the area wearing sunglasses and had a backpack with her heading towards the fight."

Emily sighed and glared at Armsmaster again. "Don't do this again. This is your last and only warning Armsmaster." The tinker nodded.

"What about Shadow Stalker?"

"I'll deal with Shadow Stalker. Now get out of here." The tinker nodded and left the office. Emily leaned back in her chair and rubbed her forehead. Damn capes. Then, she heard a knock at the door.

"Come in."

A middle age nurse walked in with a half-smile.

"It's time for your dialysis, Director."

Emily nodded and got up. She didn't get paid enough for this bullshit.

Armsmaster POV

Colin knew he wasn't the most socially adept, after all he pre-recorded all of his public speeches and simply locked his armor. However, he did understand why Director Piggot reacted the way she did. He did read several psychology books about human behavior after all, well he heard audio recordings in the background as he tinkered. Colin had broke the unwritten rules and possible endangered another parahuman. It would be a public scandal if word of it had gotten out.

Walking into his lab, Colin immediately went to his workbench to tinker. Several minutes into his trance, Dragon's avatar popped up on his screen unannounced.

"Dragon." He said dryly.

"Colin. How did it go?"

"I am not allowed to be anywhere near Chimera or authorize any missions regarding her." He replied simply as walked to a tinker-tech computer. Dragon's avatar simply nodded and changed the conversation.

"What are you working on?" She asked curiously.

"Fixing the bugs in my lie detector software."

"I see…" Dragon replies as she left the word drag on. A awkward silence began to fill the room.

"You think I'll use it against Chimera." Colin said simply not moving from his spot.

"Well...yes." Dragon replied.

"You are partially correct. However, I will use it as a basis for the Endbringer prediction software."

"Ah, I see."

Another awkward silence filled the air, not that Colin seemed noticed.

"Can you review the software." Colin said after what seemed like an eternity.

Dragon's avatar smiled softly and nodded.

"Of course."


	16. 13

Things were all going according to plan. Mostly, I don't really have a plan-plan, but Dad doesn't need to know that. I had gathered the support of a good chunk of the Dockworkers, but I need more than a little less than half. Dad may have held a lot of sway in the Association, but he was not the only one to have power. This lead to my current predicament.

Lukas King, head Supervisor to the Dockworkers and blocking my path to gaining the support of the rest of the association. According to the information I had collected in a way that may not totally be legal, the man had bad experiences with capes back in Detroit when they first appeared and would most likely not react well to me using the Dockworkers for my own ends.

I furrowed my eyebrows as I sat in my room staring at my computer which barely worked. Sure I could have used one that the Dockworkers had or one of Uber and L33T's, but it's too soon to use any of their stuff. They were in the middle of refurbishing an abandoned warehouse for use as a secret base. A nice set up if I do say so myself, but the Docks were ABB territory so Lung might take it as a slight if I were to start having my guys do patrols or pushes. We weren't ready to face the big metal dragon just yet.

Thankfully, Uber and L33T were great additions to the Ascendancy. Uber was training a couple of the Dockworkers that Dad said we're more trustful and L33T was multitasking with being Head of Public Relations as well as maintaining his assembler. That thing was a miracle. It was actually the main reason why the two haven't retired from cape business yet with L33T's limitation.

All you had to do was upload some blueprints/designs and bam, gear prepared. Naturally, they weren't as advanced and had limitations in what they could do compared to conventional tinkertech, but I'm working with what I got. That's why I had L33T make me some new gear such as Imperial officer armor painted black. It should offer more protection than standard tactical vest, and I finally got rid of that ridiculous face mask thingy I made. Now I have a helmet similar to the ones officers wore in the field, but with a retractable face protection that looked similar to the helmets AT-DP walkers wore. All in all, I looked badass and I loved it.

Standing up from my cheap wooden chair, I stretched as I felt a couple bones in my back popped. Talking with Not-Thrawn in my sleep had turned into a regular thing which was actually pretty helpful, when he's not trolling me of course. Little bitch should have been named Mitth'Roll'Nurruodo.

One thing I was worried about though, was the revelation that me and Not-Thrawn would form into one entity resulting in a completely different person. A mixture of me and Thrawn in short terms. What worried me about it thought was who would remain in control the most? Me or Thrawn. I could already see the effects happening, with Not-Thrawn using more casual language while speaking and me speaking more formally in public. Sometimes, I would daydream about events that never happened in my life, but events that were very real in Thrawns.

Normally, I would let Thrawn's logic run through me in order to calm myself, but I have been trying hard not to do that so often. I don't want to accelerate the process of this transformation after all.

Pushing these thoughts out of my mind, I walked downstairs avoiding any windows that were open. After all, I didn't want anyone to see me at home in with my glorious celeste body. Working out had done wonders for my previous beanpole body. Back to the matter at hand, it didn't take a genius to know that my identity was compromised especially with that black van hiding down the street. Like seriously, could you be more suspicious? Not even the Empire was that obvious when hunting rebels! Well the competent ones at least.

Dad had left for work in order to keep up an appearance and I was pretending I had the flu. The lie wouldn't last long, but it would hold for now. Maybe I could fake my death? The possibilities were endless...mostly.

Making my way to the basement, I grinned. I had started to indulge into different hobbies when I wasn't planning or doing anything regarding the Ascendancy.

Sitting in the basement, were an assortment of posters, statues and paintings. I was starting a art collection. Everything was organized according to style and type of art. A statue of Allfather was next to a rather large Nazi flag, which was next to the E88's symbol for reference. The ABB part of the basement had several banners from Chinatown as well as several masks. My favorite section was the miscellaneous which held several subsections.

This part just had art I had collected from around town and printouts from the internet. It was interesting to see so many different arts styles on a single planet. I passed all of these sections to a corner in the room.

Sitting in the corner, was a blank canvas with an assortment of paint cans and brushes surrounding it. I never was much of an artist when I was younger, now I can't get it out of my mind.

Grabbing a brush, I went to work with delicate strokes. After about an hour or so, I swiped the sweat from my forehead and left my basement. Dad wasn't home yet, but I supposed I could start making dinner. Nah he could bring takeout.

I preferred to do my more...personal business during the dark. Pulling out my new phone, took a while to convince Dad, I texted him to bring something before dialing a number in.

The phone rang till someone picked up.

"Mr. Sullivan, I have a proposition for you."


	17. 14

Sullivan Penny was quite extraordinary man. According to the background checks I had done, the man used to serve in the 75th ranger regiment until most of the military's budget went into the PRT's pocket. Then he disappeared for a while before showing up in Brockton Bay to work at a small PI agency owned by a old friend from the military. Said friend was later killed by the ABB after he poked his nose into some of Oni Lee's more underground businesses. The PI business would have gone downhill if it wasn't for the fact that Mr. Penny sold amateur detective novels and survival books to make a penny. Heh, pun intended.

Essentially, the man has combat and detective experience that I need desperately. Uber was needed to help L33T in setting up his department and it was a waste of resources to use him for every petty little thing.

This led to my current situation, meeting with Mr. Sullivan at his agency's office. Uber was in civilian clothes as I was let in through an alleyway door. It would be quite a public spectacle if I were to walk in through the front door.

The inside of the building was quite...homey. That was being nice, the place was a dump. Old bookshelves among other things littered the place. Beautiful, this should allow me to get some insight into his personality and current struggles.

Dust was everywhere which means he probably doesn't spend a lot of time in the office, or is an absolute pig. I'm hoping it was the former because it could mean that he was a more "hands on" type of PI. The door to his office was literally in shambles. Wow, how is he even paying the rent for this place? The artist in me wants to stop and appreciate the bullet holes, but the Taylor me just wants to get this over with.

Man...sometimes the hardest choices require the strongest wills. Several minutes later, I entered the actual office room. It was practically the same style of decoration. Which means, still a dump.

Sitting behind a old broken desk, sat Sullivan Penny. He didn't get up when I walked in. Interesting.

"Hello Mr. Penny. I'm the one you spoke with over the phone." I said as I made my way to the chair in front of the desk. I didn't sit. That chair would probably make me need a tetanus shot.

Mr. Penny looked up at me nodding. His eyes are scanning me looking for any weakness or a sign to my age. His eyes are dull and cold. Probably due to the horrors he saw during his service in the military. Mr. Penny has one of his hands hidden from view. Possibly concealing a gun or paperwork.

My mask and posture didn't reveal anything so I continued speaking.

"I know you have been in need of finding purpose in life."

His left eyebrow raises in amusement and curiosity.

"Straight to the point I see." He responded with amusement very obvious in his tone.

"Of course. There is no point or dancing around the issue, you would simply counter by asking me to go straight to the point." I countered with my mask not revealing my facial expression. A professional man such as himself would likely not take me seriously due to age, with or without powers.

"Touche." His voice level was calm and without emotion. His face temperatures remain steady. Mr. Penny forms a smile on his face.

"May I continue?"

He motioned his hand forward telling me nonverbally to in a sense, 'Get on with it.'

"As I said before, I know about your search for a purpose in life." I pull out a hologram device and sat it on his desk. With a simple press of a button, it came to life showing pictures from his service in the military, his books, and articles detailing his background. Thank you Uber becoming my hacker for a day. Can't forget L33T using the replicator to create this.

Mr. Penny's eyes widen slightly in shock. That should be no surprise, I was casually showing a couple classified articles. Mr. Penny coughed slightly and looked straight at me, possibly where my eyes most likely were.

"You don't need a PI if you can do this kind of stuff." He grumbled softly. I felt myself smile under my mask helmet. That felt weird to say.

"Of course I do Mr. Penny. Most people always assume a parahuman can do practically anything and everything by themselves, that they use their human underlings as canon fodder. Look at the ABB, it's obvious Lung is the main power there." The mentioning of the ABB was on purpose.

His jaw hardened and his temperature starts to rise. Possibly remembering his old partner and being insulted indirectly.

I keep speaking.

"I don't see normal people like that. Look at the PRT, their officers have some astounding capture rates, not in Brockton Bay of course, but that's the problem. They are inefficient here."

"So you want to replace them? How do I know you won't turn into a monster line the E88!" Not mentioning the ABB huh, possibly got threatened before.

"Because I'll have people like you with me." I sat down on the chair slowly. I'll need to wash this uniform later. "As I have shown you, I know your background and thinking process. You're an honest man who lost his way."

Mr. Penny doesn't speak for a couple seconds before responding.

"What are you offering?"

"I need your military and PI experience. You can tell I'm trustworthy due to the previous jobs I've offered you being paid on time."

"That doesn't mean you're trustworthy."

"I know, but it was worth a try." I reply with humor in my voice.

"Heh." He closed his eyes for a second before nodding. "Give me a couple hours and you'll have an answer."

"Very well. Thank you for your time Mr. Penny."

"Call me Sully, you're making me feel old." Sully grunted as he motioned me to leave. It would be quite rude stay any longer.

I nod in return and I hold my hand out to shake. It was a sign of mutual respect after all.

"As you say, Mr. Sully." I replied with a hidden grin. I didn't wait for him to respond before leaving.

Uber was waiting outside with the car. It was a broken down Toyota 4runner, a black van or Suburban would be too obvious, and would make things seem suspicious.

"Eh. how did it go Boss?" Uber asked with an Italian accent. Racist bastard, but it must be fun with a power such as his.

"Why Uber, it went better than expected." I replied simply as he drove us back to a hideou t. It was time to get some parahuman muscle.

 **A/N**

 **So like sorry for disappearing, but writers block hit me hard. Keep an eye out for my next story!! Thanks for all of the support**


	18. 15

Thrawn was an asshole. He was always vague and mysterious with his answers. No wonder I rub people the wrong way! Oh well. Being the leader of a not so crime syndicate helps one not to be bored. Not going out in public on the other hand, is a major con. Not being able to wonder in broad daylight without attracting any attention was harder than it seemed. Sure I could wear a lot of makeup and long sleeve clothes, but I didn't like wearing makeup in general. I would rather suffer not going out in public discreetly. So I had to move from my house to a warehouse in the Docks which led to most of it being taken after a few days of fighting. We didn't need to kill every member, just the ones who held any influence or power. Note to self, make sure Uber has every copy of that Earth Bet game Assassin's Creed.

After Lung's capture, ABB influence has gone down quite a bit. It seemed only Oni Lee had somehow kept most of the gang together. Probably with the help of a mysterious bomber tinker Lung had recruited before his capture. So far the only problem I have in securing the Dock was Lukas King. It would take quite a little while before I could directly confront him. At the moment, the Ascendancy's current manpower was adequate. What I needed was more capes on my side. Uber and L33T were alright, but they weren't extreme powerhouses. They couldn't face someone like Kaiser head on and win. Maybe with some trickery on my part, but I don't want to put all of the plan on some x-factor. I'm not Thrawn enough for that, yet.

This led to me standing on the roof of a building in my full armor staring at Shadow Stalker. L33T had managed to build a couple probe droids using his replicator and it was quite amazing.

It was quite late in the evening when one of the droids detected her, so I decided to meet her personally. Uber and a squad of his new "stormtroopers" acted as my backup in case this went volatile.

I let memories of Thrawn's calmness flow through me as I prepared to reveal myself. For all the talks of being one of the more stealthier hero's, Sophia Hess was quite dense when she herself was in a sense being hunted. Ironic.

Shadow Stalker was Sophia Hess. I remembered how much it made my blood boil when Uber had discovered it in one of his hacking sprees. The PRT covered her crimes and used her as an attack dog. She was no hero, but I'm not looking for heroes.

Thrawn was bullied and treated horribly during his time at the Imperial Academy, but he didn't destroy his bullies. He looked past personal conflicts and focused on the greater good by making them transfer to a different academy where they could strengthen the Empire while threatening them at the same time. It was genius.

I didn't want to forgive Sophia, but that didn't mean I couldn't work with her. I hate her, but I could use her. She was especially vulnerable at the moment. Rumors had it that the PRT had a tighter leash on its rabid attack dog. Idiots, that'll make her more likely to lash out.

Walking out from the dark spot I was hiding slowly, I spoke.

"Greetings Shadow Stalker." I said simply as my accented voice broke the silence. Before I said her cape name, she turned around with her crossbow aimed straight at me.

Her stance is defensive and her face heat levels indicate she's embarrassed. Shadow Stalker's finger is on the trigger.

I raise my hands in the air slowly showing I don't mean her any harm. She lowered her weapon slowly while keeping her stare on me.

"Who the hell are you?" She demanded with and icy cold voice.

I press a button on the side of my helmet revealing my red eyes. Stalker lowered her weapon even more but still kept her stance.

"Chimera?" She asked with a tone of respect. Possibly due to my help in capturing Lung.

"That's the name the PRT assigned me, but it's not the name I chose for myself." I replied calmly. Good, she didn't recognize me.

She motioned her arms signaling me to go on with it. She has a blunt personality in her cape persona as well as her personal life.

"I much prefer the name Thrawn."

She snorted and walked toward me.

"I think Chimera sounds better." She said simply with a blunt tone.

I let a chuckle sound out and I extend my hand for a handshake. Sophia only respected strength, which meant a good first impression is needed along with strong actions. Being a factor in capturing Lung was a good step. She took my hand and squeezed my hand. I simply squeezed back.

"Possibly." I responded and a probe droid floated next to me.

Stalker resumed her defensive stance, but lowered it once she saw the droid was not a danger.

Then, it shot out a holographic projection showing off Shadow Stalkers various victims of her brutality.

"I must say, I'm quite a fan." I lied as I waved some old holographic newspapers detailing the attacks.

Shadow Stalker's body position turns defensive again.

I raise my hands in the air again. "I'm not here to fight you or turn you in or anything."

Her posture relaxes slightly, but she remains on her guard.

"And? What about it?" She demanded angrily. Blood is rushing into her face.

"You're doing more work than the PRT has ever done." She seemed to swell with pride at my compliment.

"But in the long run, you're not affecting anything." The hologram turned into Brockton Bay. "Such a big city won't be slowed down by a couple muggers getting brutally beat down. E88 and ABB don't care that you take down a grunt. Merchants definitely won't since they're busy getting a high."

She took a step towards me before I raised a hand to calm her.

"It's not an insult. Just a simple fact."

"And? You think you can do better than me!" She all but screeched. Even more blood is rushing into her face.

"Not by myself."

She angled her head curiously.

"I know you and the PRT along with the Protectorate aren't on be best terms. I doubt they would let you go out on patrol at the moment. Which makes me wonder, why are you here?"

She turned her head away angrily.

"Shut up."

"I can offer you better terms than the Protectorate. More deadly weapons? Done. Grunts to train with or brutally practice on? Just don't kill them. Protection if the PRT comes down on you and your family? Done."

Her body posture suggest that she is seriously considering my offer. Something must have happened in order for her to act this way. She's not as aggressive as I thought she would. Quite weird.

"I know that you're a survivor, but staying in the PRT will lead to you ending up dead."

"How do I know you aren't a criminal? Maybe I could take you down right now?" She grunted out as she placed a hand on her crossbow.

"The Ascendacy isn't some criminal organization that wants control of Brockton Bay for selfish means, or to make a profit. It's an organization to kick the gangs out of here. The PRT clearly won't do it." I said with a hard voice. I need to get better at making speeches.

"Ehh. I don't trust you."

"Simply imagine us as a PRT that won't hold tie you to a leash."

She scoffed and stood on the edge of the building. I walked forward slowly and handed her a card.

"Call me if you're interested."

After a moment, Stalker slowly reached forward and grabbed it. Hiding it in some random pocket she nodded before disappearing.

I stood there for a second before I heard footsteps walking up behind me.

"You didn't listen to my orders." I said simply as I turned around to see Uber wearing his new armor. He was wearing a more armored version of my own, with his helmet designed to look like a death troopers.

"I got bored." He shrugged as he stood next to me awkwardly.

"Boys want to see some action before we head in." He said nonchalantly.

"They'll get their chance soon." I replied as I sent the probe droid away. It was time to strike into Merchant territory. With or without Shadow Stalker.

"Think she'll join?"

"Possibly."


	19. 16

The Merchants were disgusting. Though they were the smallest of the three main gangs, they somehow survived like the cockroaches they are. Feeding on the leftovers of the ABB and E88 while they suck the life out of the honest citizens of Brockton Bay. Most of their territory was isolated from one another and often lose streets outside of their usually hangouts.

The average Merchant goon was a drug addict with a gun. Quite a dangerous combination, but can be easily taken care of if dealt with carefully. The target for tonight was a drug house in one of the poorer parts of town. This particular one was a major producer of weed. This was just the first part of my plan. This attack was simply one of the many I have planned for tonight.

The Merchants only had three capes, so a strike was planned on several drug houses and hangouts. This would overextend their capes power and allow my men to take down their unpowered members easily. It was risky because I had no idea where Mush, the most dangerous of the three in an open fight, was. Besides that, more than half of my men haven't been in any fights like this or had any experience in actual fighting. This was in a sense, the moment of truth.

The "stormtroopers" had orders to retreat at the sign of any Merchant capes. In case something went wrong, I made sure that the PRT received an anonymous call detailing the exact locations of another warehouse. Hopefully Protectorate capes would distract them. If that didn't work, I heard that Glory Girl always loved a fight.

The main reason for this attack is to show that the Ascendancy means business. Sure the Merchants aren't the most powerful of the gangs, but they'll serve their purpose.

I was in a van parked a street away from the target that I was closest to. I didn't want to stay behind and let others risk their lives while I was comfy in an office. I was personally leading this task force while Uber led another force on the other side of town. Handpicked men lead the remaining squads. Dad wanted to come, but I didn't let him. He would emotionally compromise the mission and he wasn't exactly the most fit or combat ready of men. L33T remained behind to provide tactical support. The probe droid kept a watch on the drug houses for a couple days now and I found their patrol patterns, or lack thereof. Skidmark and Squealer were at her workshop, so I made sure to avoid areas they would be able to respond to quickly, taking into Squealers creations into account of course.

This attack was risky. While the Merchants were spread out, so were my own men. The main difference was the element of surprise on my side. This needs to work. After all, a sneak attack only works once. Unless you're an idiot, like Skidmark. He had to be cunning though, especially if he dealt with the other gangs.

Anyways, back to the matter at hand. My men were given orders to shoot to incapacitate, killing was a last resort at the moment. Pulling my blaster from my holster, I motioned the squad with me to get off the van. Most of them wore all black clothes with the Ascendancy insignia on their shoulder. A camera droid was floating around us recording our every movement.

L33T as the head of my Propaganda Department, decided that these raids would provide footage he could use to release our own version of these events before the PRT could. A PR war of some sorts. It wasn't exactly my strongest area so I'll just leave it to him.

Another squad was approaching from the opposite side of the building. Quickly surveying the perimeter, I motioned the troopers forward as I followed behind them. We moved quickly and quietly as one of them broke down the door. Ironic. I followed behind them and soon, gunfire broke out.

"Take them down." I said calmly into our comlinks as two Merchants sat in the room we entered. One trooper aimed his gun and shot one in the shoulder. He went down with a scream while the other one turned and aimed his gun at us. I reacted by unloading by aiming my own weapon at him and blasted him. The Merchant was still screaming on he ground clutching his shoulder as blood poured out.

I simply aimed at him and stunned him as well.

"Call an ambulance once we are done." I said as the squad leader walked up to me. He was a tall guy with dark skin and a smallish Afro. Not as efficient as it should be. His name was Darryl.

"If you say so Boss. If it were up to me, I would leave these bitches here." He replied as he motioned two other members to split up and search the place. He needs to watch his language.

"Good thing it isn't up to you then. Take any money or weapons you find. Burn the drugs." I replied calmly as Darryl shrugged and motioned the remaining member to follow him. I was soon the last one in the room. Gunfire soon took over the silence.

"Suspicious. I would expect more of them to be here." I said to no one in particular as I kept moving. I busted down a door and blasted the first Merchant I saw. The other one pulled out a knife and charged at me. He fell at my feet as I blasted him casually. Don't bring a knife to gun fight, less you're a Jedi. Even then, you would have to be fast enough to dodge the shot before coming in close.

"Squad Leader one come in." I said as I pressed a button on the side of my helmet. After some static, I got a response.

"Squad Leader one here. We've secured the garden. Orders?" I sighed internally. He was clearly paying attention was I said to burn the drugs.

"Burn them. Capture any prisoners that you can. Particularly any that look important. We need to get out of here before the police or PRT show up." That meant the ones with better clothes and weapons.

"We don't have enough guys for prisoners." Darryl replied. He was a Dock Worker until they were forced to make some budget cuts. Nice guy, follows instructions, but not the smartest one in the bunch.

"I said if you can."

"Oh ok."

An awkward silence filled the air.

"Thrawn out." I said sharply as I ended the call. Looking at the two guys unconscious at my feet, I sighed and kicked one in the crotch. He woke up screaming as he grabbed his lower regions. I grabbed him and dragged him along while he moaned in pain. That was a bit cruel, good he won't be able to escape easily.

Gunfire was still sporadic as I made my way to our exit. It took a while, the guy was pretty heavy and the armor didn't give my strength any favors. After what felt like an eternity, I met up with the rest of the squad.

Once they saw me, one of them moved forward and picked up the Merchant with ease. Damn dock workers were more brawn than anything else. Most of them that is. Lukas King being one of the exceptions.

Darryl walked up to me.

"Squad two is outside with the explosives."

"Good. Let's go." I replied as I walked out a hole in the ram shack wall. The rest followed my lead and once we reached squad two, I activated my com link.

"Uber come in."

Static filled my ear.

"Uber come in."

Still more static.

"L33T what's the problem with Uber."

He responded in a couple seconds.

"They've engaged Mush."

"What?" I shouted into the comlink. They should've made a tactical retreat. In fact, why wasn't I informed of this earlier.

"Yup." He said popping the p. "Good thing is that we got a good look at his face before the whole mess started so we can avoid him now. I still don't like this unmasking though."

"Ok. How are the other raids?"

"All of them are a success, except for Uber's of course. Orders?"

"Send an anonymous call to New Wave. Have Uber and his men back at base now. I want the nearest squad to support them now."

"Alright Boss."

I ended the call and motioned for us to leave. Once we were on the bus I made a short call.

"Squad Leader Two, detonate."

"Detonating now."

An explosion sounded out as we drove away. The only thing that was louder were the sirens that arrived not long after we left.

 **A/N**

 **Not my favorite chapter and I felt like I could do better, but I don't want the inspiration to go to waste so I hope everyone enjoyed this.**


	20. Interlude 3

Uber was having the time of his life. Sure he had fun when it was just the dynamic duo Uber and L33T, but this was fun too. He got to boss around guys and wear some badass armor. Helmet was kinda creepy since it low key looked like a skull, but it had glowing green eyes and that is badass. That and he had a laser gun that the Boss called a DLT-19D heavy blaster rifle. Though its energy system and ammunition had to be modified for easier production. Uber didn't exactly try to find out how it works. He didn't care either way. L33T's replicator was amazing. It was the only reason they lasted as long as they did as a duo.

The raid started off perfectly as the two squads breaking into the building neutralized any opposition. Uber grinned under his helmet as the Merchant that did fire back either missed or their bullets ricocheted on his armor. He simply gunned gunned them down with the blasters stun mode. A couple of the guys stared at him with jealousy and he grinned under the helmet. The Boss didn't trust equipping everyone with blasters, so he was the only one that had a really big gun. Everything was going well, until more Merchants appeared.

"TAKE THESE BITCHES DOWN." Uber shouted like he in some war movie. He rolled into cover as he saw one of his men get shot up. Damn, he liked that guy. He liked most of these guys, after all he did train them. The Dock Workers were made of some hard stuff. He popped out of cover and easily blasted two Merchant druggies. Damn he loved his power! The blaster helped a lot too. After blasting down a couple more Merchant before moving on to the next room. Everything was going to plan. Until it wasn't.

"TAKE COVER." Uber heard someone scream as the roof suddenly had a giant hole in it. A giant fist made of random bits slammed back inside the building.

"ITS MUSH." He heard someone else scream as more gunfire shot out.

"FALL BACK NOW." Uber screamed as he ran outside of the building.

"Squad two report." Uber screamed into his headpiece.

"We lost Jerry...man JERRY!"

"Calm down Tom!" Uber screeched as he took cover behind their van. Uber looked into the drivers side and saw that he was missing. Damn it, he wanted to leave everyone behind, but Uber knew Thrawn would have his ass for it.

Uber activated his comlink. "EVERYONE RETREAT. BLOW WHAT EXPLOSIVES YOU HAVE PLANTED." Hopefully most of the guys will get out of it alive. If not, we'll hopefully they'll take down some Merchants with them. As soon as he spoke those words, the building exploded, but gunfire still filled the air.

"L33T I need help here Buddy!" Uber shouted as he changed channels.

"I know I know! Boss said to get out of there ASAP. The nearest squad ETA is 6 minutes to provide support." Uber sighed and grunted before turning it off. He looked outside of the cover and saw that Mush was using the debris to make himself grow larger and larger. No sign of regular Merchant druggies. Unless their bodies count of course.

"We're getting out of here assholes! Be here in a minute or you're on your own." Uber shouted as he climbed into the van. He made his way to the driving seat. A couple of the guys pile into the van and Uber saw the other squads van drive off.

Uber slams his foot on the gas and drives a couple feet before the vans battery died. He turned around angry and stared at the remaining squad members.

"WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF REPLACING THE BATTERY?" He screeched as he looked out the drivers window to see Mush slowly advancing. All the fingers pointed at him.

"Shit." Uber pulled out his rifle and flicked off stun mode. Forget no killing capes. This bitch was going to kill him!

With the press of a trigger, Uber rained a barrage of tinkertech made lasers on the giant heap of trashs body.

Soon, he heard the sign of the boys firing with their normal guns. Mush still kept advancing and looked like he was ready to throw a puch at them, when a white blur slammed into his side causing him to fall back onto the ruined building.

A black van came speading on next him which opened up revealing more Ascendancy stormtroopers.

"GET IN!" One of them screamed as they piled on. Uber was the last one in the van which was pressed for space.

'Its a damn sausage fest in here.' Uber thought as he took in deep breathes and was pushed against the wall. Damn armor makes it more uncomfortable than it should be.

"Hey Uber. Boss wants to have a talk with you when you get back." He heard L33T say as his comlink turned on.

Uber groaned the loudest he ever had in his life.

* * *

"So does anyone want to tell me what the hell is happening in my city."

Armsmaster didn't like the director of the local PRT, Emily Piggot, but he didn't need to like her in order to respect and work with her. Right now she had him and Miss Militia in her office. The rest of the Protectorate would be briefed later along with the Wards.

"Around 6 pm this evening several explosions occurred around the city. The results of my investigation so far are that this was the result of some sort of gang war." Armsmaster said simply. He had been listening to too many detective novels while tinkering.

"The attack was well planned and most of the opposing gang was gone when the police and PRT arrived. As of right now the fires have been contained. We are still counting the dead."

Director Piggot grunted as she rubbed her forehead. A new gang wasn't good and would most likely escalate the violence in order to gain more territory.

"Around 6:20 another explosion happened near Marshall rd. Mush was seen at the scene as well as several men dressed in a black uniform. The nearest camera show their uniforms with these symbols." Armsmaster pressed a button on the side of his gauntlet activating a hologram.

The first symbol had a creature with different body parts such as spider legs, stalked eyes, and two serpentine heads atop a barbed neck of some sorts. Armsmaster spent a while analyzing the creature before the meeting and came to one conclusion. Chimera. She was playing with them.

The chimera's of legend were creatures with the body parts of different animals such as this one. Armsmaster held a grimace in. The rogue thinker had turned to the dark side. That was probably why she assisted in fighting Lung, getting rid of the competition he guessed.

The second symbol was not as striking as the first. It was essentially a circle with a chunk at the bottom taken out. In the center was another circle with three diamonds and lines cutting in from the sides.

"Additional research shows that men wearing these have also been seen patrolling the docks. However, we haven't received any news of mugging or drug deals in the area."

Miss Militia nodded before speaking.

"We need to have a statement out before PHO starts speculating."

Director Piggot nodded and stood up.

"I want all Protectorate members out on patrol in force. We need to show that we are responding to this. The Wards are to stay at their compound in reserve. I would have them on the streets, but I don't need the Youth Guard breathing down my neck."

Armsmaster agreed with her silently. He hated bureaucrats involving themselves into Protectorate business. It was inefficient and caused more than one of his projects to be put on hold or canceled completely.

Before the Director could speak again, a loud knock sounded from the other side of the door.

"This better be important." She shouted as the deputy director walked in with a nervous expression. What happened?

"You need to see this." He said quickly as he turned on the rooms TV.

Right on the screen was one of the better equipped gang members caught on the camera.

Armsmaster stares in shock.

The figure was covered from head to toe in a light armor with a helmet covering her face. Underneath the armor was a uniform that Armsmaster had seen before. This just confirmed his suspicions.

"Damn it." He grunted under his breath.


	21. 17

It didn't take long to edit the video together and have it prepared for broadcasting. All we had to do was film me speaking and we were good. It didn't take long with Thrawn's public speaking skills. Sure he wasn't the easiest to understand, but he could get people to listen.

This led to me standing in a room with a tinkertech camera aimed at my face. L33T was happily sitting in some type of a directors chair with a couple of his propaganda underlings next to him, Uber was sitting in the corner with his back towards us. He was a big boy and needed some form of a punishment. Meanwhile, Dad was off to the side with a nervous grin on his face.

L33T held one of his hands up and started a countdown. Five, four, three, two, one.

"Hello citizens of Brockton Bay. I am the independent known to the PRT as Chimera. They designated this name to me without my approval. Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am the parahuman now known as Thrawn." I said introducing myself.

"At 6 pm this afternoon, my organization, the Ascendancy, launched several strikes into Merchant territory. I know what the majority of you are thinking. Another gang that's here to take advantage of our fellow citizens and start more violence. However, that is not what we are."

"We are a paramilitary organization that works not for ourselves, but for our fellow man. For too long the Brockton Bay has been ruled by the gangs and the PRT which can barely take care of a single parahuman. The Ascendancy is here to fix that problem. You can already see the effects of our work as it is now safe to wander the docks without the fear of getting mugged or kidnapped."

"The Ascendancy isn't a way of fixing the PRT." I felt my gaze harden even though no one could see my face through the helmet.

"We are here to replace it." Dad's eyes are starting to water a little. What the hell? This speech sucks.

With that, the filming was ended and everyone started clapping around me. Even Uber had turned around to join in.

L33T jumped off this chair and made his way to me.

"Way to go Boss. Phase one of beating the PRT in public relations is over. He said excitedly. I think he enjoyed bossing around people more then anything. I nodded in agreement.

"How soon can you broadcast it?" I asked. Stuff like this wasn't exactly my specialty.

"Right now actually. Videos of the raid can be released later once we get more momentum."

"Excellent. Good job L33T." I replied and I made my way to Dad. He immediately pulled me into a hug, which I did not return. It wasn't professional.

"Let go of me Dad." I said simply and he let go of me with a frown on his face.

"I'm just so proud. My baby is causing so much change." This weirded me out. Weeks ago he was completely against me doing pretty much anything except the Wards. Good thing I wore a helmet, because I don't want anyone seeing how embarrassed I looked.

I gave him a curt nod and walked past him. It was time to check on phase two.

Phase one was basically composed of the speech and raid videos. Phase two had a more personal touch. Walking into a room a hallway away, a group of teenagers had already gathered. Most of them were street artists of some sorts.

"Hello." I said simply as I walked in. A girl stood up with a lip piercing and very dark clothes.

"You know, when someone said a cape wanted me to work for them I was a bit skeptical." She said. Miss Tanya was the leader of this particular group. Street artist often formed underground groups to vandalize walls and the like. They often went under recognized in cities like Brockton Bay.

"I can tell."

"Whatcha want?" Tanya blew a bubble with some gum before popping it and chewing again. Stereotypical I see.

"I have a job for you and your people."

She looked at one of her boys before shrugging.

"I want your people to vandalize Brockton Bay. Spray paint the Ascendancy symbol anywhere you want throughout the city. Feel free to come up with whatever you want as long as it benefits the Ascendancy." I said simply as I took a seat in one of the rooms many recliners.

Miss Tanya placed a finger on her chin before speaking.

"Sure. How much are paying?" She asked.

"We can discuss that later."

Miss Tanya shrugged before motioning her people to go.

"The trooper outside can lead you out of the building." She nodded and left the room leaving me alone. I liked this room. It was quiet and comfortable. This warehouse had been remodeled completely to better suit my needs.

"Hey Boss. Your speech is broadcasting now." I heard my comlink come to life. L33T's voice was giddy and kinda creeping me out.

"Ok."

The comlink cut off and I walked out of the room to wander. I liked wandering, it allowed me to think and read other people. The hallways were filled with life as dockworkers, stormtroopers, and others busied themselves. Many acknowledged me with a nod or even a salute. I soon made my way to my new office. It was one of the few rooms that had tinkertech as a major feature.

I had numerous posters and art pieces from both the gangs and PRT. I had them divided by organization and had any random art pieces in the back. I must say, the ABB had the most aesthetically pleasing of the three gangs, while the E88 had a more jagged yet professional tone.

Taking a seat behind my desk, I activated a hologram of the city and began my next plan. I had not forgotten Lisa of course. I was in some contact with her, but her power would be quite useful in the future. Once I free her from Coil of course. Maybe I could fake her death? I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs diabolically.

I want soon taken out of my thoughts by my burner phone ringing. I didn't want everyone calling me on my comlink after all, and it took a while to get Dad to accept a phone.

Answering it, I felt a grin form on my face.

"Why hello Shadow Stalker. It's a pleasure hearing from you again."

Sometimes, to make an omelet you need to break a few eggs, or in Shadow Stalkers case, smash them against the wall.

Stupid metaphors.


	22. 18

The call with Shadow Stalker was quite interesting, and it allowed me more insight into her mind. I already knew that Sophia Hess had a survivor complex along with some weird version of predator and prey. Thrawn's mindset allowed me to analyze things a bit from her point of view. The conversation however, revealed another side to her.

Sophia Hess was a hypocrite. While she would gladly leave random people out to dry unless they proved themselves, she held a soft spot for her family in her black heart. I don't mean that in a racist way by the way. Despite all the smack she talks and how much she claims she hates her family, deep down she still cares about them. It almost made her sound human. Part of the agreement they came to was having a squad keep an eye on Sophia's family. Easily done. Other agreements included equipment and locations of gang hideouts or businesses.

Initially, Shadow Stalker wanted to escape the Wards and meet up at one of the Ascendancy locations to take the fight to the gangs. It took some talking, but I managed to convince her that staying with them would be better in the long run. She would be our mole. Plus the PRT could turn it around and say we kidnapped her or something similar. I let a smirk show on my face again. I held my helmet up as I stared deep into its mask.

Sophia didn't even recognize me, but that was to be sure with the Chiss accent I had added to my voice. Every organization needed an attack dog to take the blame. Good cop, and bad cop. Sophia was nothing more than a rabid dog who would die fighting the gangs, or suffer an unfortunate 'accident' if she stepped out of line. While I planned on helping her out to an extent, it will only last as long as she is useful. A bit brutal to be sure, but it's the least I could to pay her back for all the bullying. Sure it was petty of me, but I don't quite want to forgive a monster who haunted my nightmares.

Staring at myself in the mirror I had placed in the office, I tilted my head. It was quite surreal looking at my new form. The form fitting uniform showed off some budding curves, but sadly my chest was still flat. Oh well, bigger breast aren't as efficient. It would distract my underlings, but they could also prove to distract my enemies in combat. Hmmmm, nah I don't want someone like Hookfang staring at my cleavage. I giggled softly, it doesn't matter anymore. I should be happy that being blue made me slightly more attractive.

Why am I thinking about this anyways? Body image doesn't really matter anymore, I run an organization now. I have more important things to do. Putting those thoughts out of my mind, I leaned up into a proper sitting position and activated my computer. Time to see how Brockton Bay has reacted. After a couple clicks I let my smirk grow bigger.

"Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war."

I really need to stop being dramatic, and calling people dogs.

* * *

L33T was excited. Sure it was easy to get him all hyped up, but this was different. Being the head of the Ascendancy PR division brought quite the budget and respect. Well, not so much on the last one, but it was better than before! Being able to boss people around was pretty fun. Especially the coffee guy. Speaking of which…

"BILL I SAID I DON'T WANT DECAF!" L33T screamed at Bill. Bill was some new guy that couldn't tell the difference between adobe flash and PowerPoint. How they related? It didn't matter, L33T just hated him with a passion.

"B-but Boss, you said you wanted decaf." Bill sputtered out. It was true, but L33T wasn't about to tell him that.

"No I didn't. I would clearly remember telling you that I want decaf." L33T shot back with a glare under his helmet. It was a simple thing, a full covering helmet with the sign of a Chimera all over it. With no visible eye sockets, it was quite intimidating.

The silence that filled the room was broken by the sound of water trickling.

"...go get yourself cleaned up and ask the Quartermaster about your bonus." Not even L33T was a heartless bastard. To an extent. After Bill left the room, L33T erupted into laughter along with the others in his office. Bill had walked in when L33T was meeting with some officers in his department.

"Alright alright simmer down!" L33T half shouted through laughter. It only made everyone laugh louder.

"I LOVE MY LIFE!"

L33T never saw the pee stain coming as he fell to the ground.

* * *

It was natural for people to have some bad days. Some might say it was simply a part of life and one should get used to them. Armsmaster was not one of those people. When something got in his way, he would attempt to go around it, over it, or even under it.

Today was a very bad day by anyone's standards. Shortly after Chi- no, Thrawn's broadcast, other gangs sensed the Merchants weakness and tried to gain some territory as well. The end result, a five way war raging throughout Brockton Bay. So far the E88, ABB, and Ascendancy had a small skirmishes on the outskirts of the town, while Ascendancy and Merchants faced off in the streets elsewhere.

Some eyewitnesses reported that they saw Hookwolffacing off against Oni Lee, others claimed a new black armored cape faced off against Squealer and Skidmark before being forced to flea. Those were just the ones that Armsmaster decided to read out of the big stack he had. Most of them were rumors anyways.

Essentially, this was a huge disaster. War had come to Brockton Bay. This was bad. The previous balance of power had been broken, broken by an armed organization that appeared out of nowhere.

It was perfect. Armsmaster was not one to overlook a gift. It was no secret that the greatest tinker since Hero was ambitious, but most of the PR department tended to keep that under wraps.

Armsmaster knew that he wasn't the perfect leader, but that would change now. Why? Because if he doesn't he will be left behind in a world that was constantly evolving. Especially since most people think Dauntless would be on the Triumvirate level sometime in the future. It made Armsmaster seethe inside seeing someone who didn't even try, become that powerful. Armsmaster on the other hand, had to spend countless hours in his lab, to get upgraded.

This chaos, was an opportunity to fix his mistakes. The mistakes that made Taylor Hebert split Brockton Bay apart, the mistakes that allowed Shadow Stalker to break her parole. Armsmaster would not fail again.

"Tell Director Piggot I would like to speak with her." The receptionist never looked so nervous before.


	23. 19

Despite what the public thought, the Ascendancy wasn't some elite paramilitary organization with years of training. Most of them were former dockworkers, or members of minorities that we appealed to. Naturally, the African American and Hispanic communities came to us in sizable groups. Many of them seeking protection from the ABB and E88, but most importantly, they were tired of the PRT ineffectiveness. That's not to say that were doing a bad job per say, the PRT managed to maintain an appearance of peace for quite a long time. It was to be commended really, but they weren't decisive in taking the fight to the gangs. Of course, this didn't exactly put us in stellar relations with the PRT. They would probably treat the Ascendancy as some gang, or call us extremist. It was simply a response to our insults about them. I didn't hold it against them.

Speaking of the Ascendancy, we remodeled several abandoned warehouses in the Docks to serve as our base of operations. One or two were just decoys to keep anyone away from the actual locations. Of course, that didn't include some safe houses around the city which were in use almost all the time. The average member spent most of their time there, I didn't trust everyone with the knowledge of the warehouses. Thus, only those who were trustworthy were allowed knowledge and access to the base. L33T made extensive background checks, and Uber was often sent to deal with some recruitment drives personally. We already caught a couple skinheads trying to join as well as one or two who worked for Coil. Of course, a resource that we are desperately low on are capes.

Sure we had Uber and L33T, as well as myself, but our powers aren't exactly the type that could go toe to toe with the likes of Kaiser or Oni Lee. Of course, that meant we had to adapt in other ways. Mostly relying on the unpowered members of the Ascendancy. This led to me being stuck in my office staring at videos of cape fights looking for ways to easily counter the various villains or heroes in the city. Naturally, it was a great success as numerous counters were put in a folder for future reference. Examples includes throwing grenades on a timer at Mush, so it could explode once it was part of him. Simple really. Other examples include calling Assault's Mom a whore but I won't go into detail about that one.

Anyways, I was standing on the roof of a building in downtown Brockton Bay like the edgy person I am. Dressed in my full black uniform, I was studying the local area with some probe droids L33T built with the replicator. Feeling a gust of wind behind me, I didn't turn around. I had made sure to keep a droid back to watch my back.

"Hello Glory Girl." I said simply as I kept looking at my data pad. There wasn't anything important on this one.

"How did you know it was me?" She asked curiously. I finally turned around dramatically.

"There aren't many capes who can fly in Brockton. There wasn't any brightness so you weren't Purity. The other members of New Wave aren't as active as the infamous Glory Girl. That and I saw you on the camera." I motioned to the probe droid that sat in a corner.

"Infamous?" She asked with a curious look in her eyes.

Activating a button on the probe droid, numerous articles about gangbangers who claimed to have been beaten to a pulp by Glory Girl, but were in perfect health ran rampant in Brockton.

"Judging by this, it's clear that you don't have a control on your strength and most prone to collateral damage. Their perfect health can be directed to Panacea as the source. Of course, one can't forget Collateral Damage Barbie. Though I'm sure that one is an exaggeration."

Glory Girl turned around and looked back at me with a slight blush in embarrassment before laughing. Her face is bright red with heat and her hands are shaking. Possibly trying to hold back some anger. Maybe nervous about what I will do with the information.

"That's mean. And here I thought you were some super smart thinker. Sweet get up by the way. You should show your eyes though, they're pretty and could probably scare people if you sneak up on them." Glory Girl replied as she leaned against the shed on the roof. My black uniform was covered in Thrawn's officer body armor with my helmet covering my face. I blushes softly under the helmet, it's been a while since anyone complimented me honestly. Feeling a sort of admiration for Glory Girl, I let more of Thrawn's memories flow through me and I squashed it. Damn aura.

"Why thank you."

"Nice video too. Pretty badass calling out the Protectorate and PRT the way you did. My cousins were dying of laughter afterwards. Even Amy laughed a bit!

"I see.."

It seems that some people still don't take us seriously. That's understandable, the Merchants are pretty much a bunch of wimps. They'll stop laughing when we wipe them out and take out the Empire and ABB.

"Hey don't be that way. I admire ya. Not many people have the balls to basically declare war on the entire city."

"Ah. Well thank you."

Awkward. Muting my voice, I ordered the squad I had on standby to fall back. Turning back to Glory Girl, I spoke.

"So how may I help you?"

Glory Girl stood up straight and fiddled with her fingers nervously.

"I was wondering if we could go on patrol together. It's not everyday a new hero pops up. Especially one that's a girl. Shadow Stalker is a bitch. Vista is too young, Amy doesn't patrol, and Laserdream doesn't exactly have time for it. Besides, I'm sure with your thinker power and my awesomeness we can be unstoppable!"

Basically, I'm her last choice. Oh well, maybe I could manipulate her into joining the Ascendancy one day. Not now though, I can't afford to get into conflict with Brandish and Lady Photon. Brandish would most likely call us a gang and could uncover our legitimate businesses that serve as fronts. An alliance with New Wave would be nice

"Sure." I said simply as I put the data pad away. Transferring command of the probe droids to my helmet, I commanded them to monitor us from a distance.

"Yay." She squealed as she grabbed me in a bridal carry before I could blink and blasted off into the air.

I was glad I muted my voice because screams filled my helmet.

Another thing to add to my hate list.

Great...


	24. 20

A/N

I started this chapter, then I died with my mind going blank. I spend hours staring at this chapter and my previous ones cringing at how bad of a writer I am.

Because of this, I want to thank everyone who liked this story, replied to the thread, and everyone who enjoyed it. I wouldn't have made it this far if it wasn't for you guys. Don't worry, I'm not canceling the story or anything. I'm expressing my appreciation. I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter.

Note to self, I hate flying. More specifically, I hate it when someone grabs me and starts flying without warning. After a couple seconds of my screams filling my helmet, Glory Girl let me down softly near some abandoned alleyway. Going to an isolated corner, I opened up my mask and unloaded my lunch onto the floor. I wasn't used to such motions, especially when I wasn't given time to prepare myself. I could hear Not-Thrawn laughing from here.

"Ewww sorry about that." I could feel her wince from my position. Wiping my mouth a napkin I happened have in my pocket, I closed the mask and glared at her. This was not dignified. Thankfully the droids reported that there were no cameras in the area and nobody was in the immediate area near me.

"Give me some warning next time." I seethed as I placed a hand against the wall to help stay up. After a few silent minutes, I stood up straight and straightened my uniform. This was definitely awkward, and most likely a waste of my time.

Fighting random muggers on the street won't have any effect in the long run. All it might do is form a reputation that may or may not be negative. Each second I waste here would be more beneficial by planning attacks on gang territory and cleaning up the city. However, getting on Glory Girl's good side would also be beneficial. It could open the door to an alliance with New Wave. Sacrifices must be made I suppose.

"I'm really really sorry." She said as she floated up around me. "Amy tells me I get too excited a lot."

"I can tell." I said dryly as one of my probe droids floated up to us. Glory Girl stared at the droid and looked at me again.

"Don't tell me you're a thinker and a tinker? I know I saw these earlier, but it didn't kick in until now!" She asked excitedly. I'm not about to tell her that L33T is a member of the Ascendancy, or that he helped create this stuff. If I told her someone else made it rumors that a new tinker in town might circulate. Hmm, I'll take the least PR damaging choice. It'll keep the city on its toes.

"If I tell you, I'll have to kill you." I said with a smirk hidden by my helmet. Glory Girl simply laughed and shrugged.

"If you say so, but I doubt even you could pull that off."

Hehe, if only she knew. I actually wrote up enough plans/countermeasures to have the majority of the capes in the city killed or incapacitated, including her. Fun fact, Glory Girl's power is quite similar to her family's. She didn't just have super strength, it was the side effect of a forcefield right above her skin. Of course it took me a couple videos of her getting shot and punched in order to figure it out. A slight shimmer occurred when it took too much damage. A blink and you miss moment. Thank you sleepless nights and random PHO theories.

I shrugged in return before I spoke again.

"You do realize it's more effective to patrol from above correct? The high ground would allow us a better vantage point and provide us the advantage should we engage in combat." I sounded like an asshole. Not-Thrawn would be so proud! Apparently an infamous Jedi master from before the Jedi Purge also favored the high ground. Thrawn somehow managed to get his hand on records that were supposedly destroyed. The Chiss loved to study tactics and technology from the Clone Wars. No wonder he got in trouble for bringing old junk onto his superiors ships, but they did save his ass on some occasions.

It was quite weird, that a government that focused on carriers and fighters, switched their focus on larger cruisers with bigger guns. While they might be effective in the short term, countermeasures could always be developed. The Empire didn't seem to learn their lesson after the first Death Star exploded. Thrawn wasn't amused after he gave his assessment on the Empire to his people's leaders after returning home after the Lothal fiasco.

"Yeaaah you're right. I usually just fly around until I see someone getting mugged or stuff." This is why Brockton Bay was having a slow death. No one saw the bigger picture. Everyone focused on what was right in front of them, which in this case was the Empire, ABB and Merchants. Of course, I knew better, Coil was the more dangerous of the lot.

The most unknown variable, is most likely the most dangerous. Coil also had Lisa blackmailed and in his service, but that would change soon. Plans were already in motion which would soon gain me the allegiance of a powerful thinker.

"I'm always right. If I'm ever wrong, please refer to what I just said." I placed my hand on my hip.

Glory Girl giggled in return.

"If you say so. Anyways, you ready to go beat up some scum?" She said as she cracked her knuckles. Quite stereotypical if I do say so myself.

"Sure." I grabbed a grappling hook gun I had on my belt and shot it towards the roof, I propelled myself upwards. Once I was on top of the roof, I surveyed the area. I loved brooding.

"You brought us to a run down part of Chinatown huh." I asked Glory Girl as she floated up to me slowly.

"How did you know? Is it your thinker power that told you that?" She asked excitedly and she made some wavey gesture thingy with her hands. Um, I think she needs a doctor. Make that a mental asylum with a really strong straight jacket.

I sighed and slapped my forehead. Hitting my helmet, I grabbed my hand in pain and glared at her through my mask.

"No…there's a sign in front of that building that says 'Welcome to Chinatown' and this place is disgusting." I pointed at said building that was covered in ABB colors and bullet holes. Heroes like this are the reason the gangs haven't kicked out of the city yet.

"Oh…"

Glory Girl was a genius. She played into the stereotypical dumb blonde girl, but that was a farce. Her grades were at the top of her class, and while she didn't have much skill in hand-to-hand combat, as she relies on her power quite a lot, she is a major powerhouse of a cape as she manages to hold her own against Hookwolf, and Lung on occasion.

It took brains and brawn to perform such a feat. So Victoria Dallon wasn't such an idiot after all.

Changing the topic, I activated a hologram which showed a map of the area we were in. Two blue dots showed our location. I had my probe droids scout out the area while we talked, and soon numerous red dots popped up on the map, most of them converging on our position.

I let a grin form on my face and I called in Uber with a couple squads to meet up with us. He received orders to gather as many of the guys he could on his way here.

"What does that mean?" Glory Girl asked as she analyzed the map.

"Oni Lee knows we are here."

Grabbing my grappling gun, I shot at the building next to us and landed on it.

Glory Girl quickly followed my lead and hid behind an air conditioning unit with me.

Then, the rooftop we were on was set on fire after a flash of light.

A/N

I'm still looking for a cape name for Stannis and Taylor in my GOT/Worm Crossover

Thanks for reading and till next time


	25. 21

"So it seems that the rumors of a Bomber cape joining the ABB aren't rumors after all." I said to myself out loud. I had investigated said cape to some success. Apparently the mad tinker, whose cape name is rumored to be named Bakuda, threatened to blow up Cornell University where she attended. Sources say she was given less than perfect grades and got a huge hit to her ego. In a sense, a temper tantrum. A perfectionist, big ego, and easy to read.

Glory Girl stared at the burning roof before turning to look at me with rage in her eyes.

"You knew this was going to happen?!" She said angrily. Somehow, the glow from the fire only made her seem more intimidating. I simply shrugged in return.

"It was a possibility. Oni Lee has been known to be a suicide bomber, and mixing that with a bomb tinker is quite smart. Lung clearly has a brain somewhere in his head. You also weren't as low key as you think you were." A flash of white and black doesn't exactly match the late evening sky.

Glory Girl's balled her hands into fist and glared at me. Her face temperature rose quite a bit.

"You didn't bother to tell me this?" She said angrily as she took a step towards me. "I could have died!" Two of my probe droids flew behind her discreetly.

"You weren't in danger. It seems that particular weapon was a fire bomb. Tinkertech if that flash of light means anything. Your invulnerability would have protected you from most bombs, the only variable was the type of bomb Oni would have chosen to use. Tinkertech bombs could be quite difficult to guess their use. Besides, you most likely have Panacea on speed dial." I waved her off as I took out my blaster.

"And, it's a capes life. You never know if you're going to be able to make it home each time you put on the mask of costume." I glared at her through my mask in return. "Death is a part of the job."

Looking at the map in the corner of my HUD, I quickly turned around and blasted a copy of Oni Lee. It quickly dissolved to dust with a bomb left behind.

"GET DOWN." Glory Girl quickly wrapped her strong arms around me, flew off of the roof, and landed on the ground in another alleyway. Seriously? What's with this chick and alleyways? Then, roof above us was covered in ice. Heh, fire and ice.

"Definitely tinkertech." Glory Girl said obviously. I ignored her as I saw the group of red dots on my map getting closer. About 15 were walking down the main road, while more were heading towards us from other alleyways.

"We're surrounded." I said simply as I set my blaster to stun and took out a vibroknife with my other hand. It was a simply thing really, no bigger than a Bowie knife, but it would do the job.

"Ready to bust some skulls?" Glory Girl said as she cracked her knuckles and neck.

"Not quite. I want you to focus on fighting Oni Lee. Your power could protect you from his knife and hopefully your flying is up to par with his teleportation."

"And leave you alone with all those bitches? No way." She places her hand on her waist. Honestly, she was wasting time now. I let a grin form on my face as multiple blue dots came into range.

"I'll be fine. Just make sure to cover me." I looked at the opening of the alleyway, and took command of the probe droids hidden around the area. Setting them up in positions to fire, I made an important call to Uber.

Their arrogance will be the cause of their own demise.

* * *

Uber was used to crazy. Hell, he was crazy! You had to be crazy in order to be a cape. You gotta be even crazier to drive around the city beating up prostitutes. So when the Boss gives him a call and orders him to get a bunch of the boys for a squabble in Old Chinatown, Uber does it without hesitation.

"Aight Darryl lets go." Uber shouted as he jumped onto the back of a pickup truck. Darryl was the squad leader of Chimera squad. Uber liked the guy, they shared a couple cold ones, Uber used a straw of course, and the guy wasn't half bad.

"Got it boss." Was the response Uber got. Soon, the truck started and the other vehicles followed behind Uber's truck. Uber was standing in the back with a couple guys from Chimera squad.

Sure the Boss said it gives enemies a chance at sniping them, but damn it they looked badass! Along the way, a couple of the trucks at the back picked up some more of the boys.

Then, Uber got another call on his comlink.

"Uber here Boss." Uber said as two members of the squad were pretending to be on the Titanic at the back of the truckbed.

"Take two squads with you and head to this location I'm sending you now. Have the rest of the convoy head towards my location." Thrawn's calm voice said.

"Got it."

"Have L33T contact our other hideouts and to prep escape routes. The PRT and police will most likely try to interfere."

"Aight. What's the mission?"

"I want you to extract a certain Lisa Wilbourn. Blonde hair and green eyes. Deploy an EMP and then blow her apartment with one of L33T's bombs. We'll blame the attack on the ABB. I want her back at base alive."

"Sounds fun. Anything I should know?"

"Keep an eye out for mercenaries with tinkertech weapons. Permission to kill them. The DA won't prosecute anyways."

Uber grinned in response.

"Got it. Uber out."

Uber then started banging on the roof of the truck's cabin and activated his comlink.

"We're taking a detour Darryl. Contact the rest of Chimera squad and Inferno squad. Have them follow us." Uber ordered as he gave them the address.

"I love my job!" Uber screamed as the first four trucks took a right at the next intersection.

* * *

Lisa didn't like her job. Most of the time, she sat in her apartment staring at her computer digging up information on whatever Coil asked her for. Sometimes she left to go stare and creep people out at the Boardwalk, or go do a job with the rest of the Undersiders.

Of course, her ever present company of Coil mercenaries ready to kill her at a moments notice, sat across the street in their black suv. Totally inconspicuous.

Then, her phone began to ring. Looking at the caller ID, Lisa answered it with a sigh.

"I'm almost done with the list Boss."

"Forget that for now. I want you to get out of there and meet up with the rest of the Undersiders."

"Ok ok got it." Lisa replied and ended the call. She looked outside the window to see that the suv was now filled with bullet holes with bloodied bodies visible from the broken windows. Coil's men caught off guard. Shooters aren't professional. Grabbing her duffel bag, Lisa made her way to the door, only to see two guys trying to lockpick her door.

"Um."

Black uniforms that are synonymous with the Ascendancy. Symbols on their shoulders show their allegiance. Surprised that you noticed them.

Lisa was forced out of her thoughts when another figure joined them, this one covered in armor head to toe.

"Damn, I was wondering when she would finally get me out of this." Lisa said sarcastically as the two idiots attempting to bust inside of her apartment looked at their armored companion.

"Shit." The armored one said as he aimed his gaze at her. The last thing Lisa saw was an armored fist that knocked her out.

 **A/N**

 **Finished this chapter early so here it is. I'll be posting it over on SpaceBattles tomorrow.**

 **I'm kinda expecting some controversy over how I did things, but I was about to hit writers block so I wrote whatever.**

 **Hope everyone enjoys**


	26. 22

Jung knew trouble was up when his Boss, one of the ABB's lieutenants, asked him to gather all available men that could fight. That included everyone that had hands and legs. Lazy ass one legged bastards were told to take care of their women since it would cause of celebration once they returned victorious from battle!

Armed with his pistol, and wearing his red and green clothes, Jung walked down the street with everyone else that the lieutenants had gathered. Of course, most of them didn't want to be there, but what else could they do? Naturally they had the conscripts in the front armed only with knives and the occasional gun.

Then, one of the rooftops in Old Chinatown lit up in a bright light. Jung let a wild grin show on his face. They would make that Thrawn chick pay for what she did to Lung! Maybe Oni Lee would let him have a go at her if he did well.

Soon, a couple explosions occurred in the street ahead of them, with a white blur, no doubt Glory Girl, fighting Oni Lee.

Licking his lips, Jung kept walking when the guy next to him got hit in the head by some tinkertech laser. Jung quickly ran behind some dumpster for cover as handful of others also got hit, falling to the ground in the middle of the street.

"What the hell!" Jung screamed as he looked over the top of the dumpster slowly. The street was had a handful of ABB bodies lying around, with more standing to check on them.

"Get out of there coward." Jung heard someone shout at him. Turning to his side, Jung saw the Lieutenant of his group.

Before he could say anything else, a black pickup truck slammed into the Lieutenant killing him instantly. On the bed of the truck, men wearing black uniforms began shooting at anything covered in red or green.

Jung stared in shock as other trucks slammed into the ABB members standing in the street.

Touching his cheek, Jung felt something wet and looked at his hand. Blood, and it wasn't his. Gunfire then sounded out, Jung simply hid inside of the dumpster before anyone could see.

Then, Jung froze when he heard an accented, female voice.

"It appears that Operation Overdrive is a success."

Thrawn! This was his chance to bring himself glory! Before he could jump out, he heard the sound of footsteps hitting the pavement.

"Oni Lee retreated when he saw the majority of his men were killed."

"Excellent. The ABB proved to be less of a resistance than I believed it would be." Said the foreign accent.

Feeling anger rise in him, Jung pushed the top of the dumpster open and aimed his gun at the lightly armored female.

"DI-"

Jung's scream finished in his throat when a laser tore through his body.

When Lisa woke up, she experienced the mother of all headaches. Leaning up in the bed she laid in, Lisa grabbed her forehead.

In pain. Tooth chipped and bottom lip is split. Bruise formed on right side of face.

"Damn. They better have dental or a bitch is going to get shanked." Lisa muttered as she raised her arms above her head revealing that her arms were chained to the bed.

"Really? Such a cliche." Lisa kicked off the blankets covering her feet revealing that they were free from any restraints.

"And really sloppy." Running a hand through her hair, Lisa pulled out a hair pin. Using the pin, Lisa unlocked both of the cuffs.

"Why would they even use these cheap ass cuffs?" Maybe they were kinky? Shaking her head, Lisa stood up slowly and took a deep breathe.

"Now then, where am I?"

Room is not original to this building. Possibly built as an afterthought. Cool temperature indicates that this room is underground. Faint smell of sea salt. The Docks. Cuffs were not meant to hold me, distract me most likely.

Then, the door opened up and in came two females clothed in a certain black uniform. Both of them had what appeared to be an officers hat, with a distinct symbol on the front of it.

Symbol consistent with the Ascendancy. Ascendancy officers? Most likely, one on the left is a former veteran.st likely, one on the left is a former veteran. Her hands unconsciously reach for her holster.

"Excuse me. I would like to speak to your manager. The service here is horrible and-"

Whatever else Lisa was going to say died in her throat when a tall, skinny figure walked into the room. Dressed in a pure white uniform, the figures face was covered by a helmet with a faceplate.

"Interesting Miss Karen. I was not aware that there was a manager on the premises." Thrawn said with a cool, accented voice. She turned to both of the guards.

"I would like to speak with our guest alone and uninterrupted." Thrawn ordered simply. Both guards looked at each other, before one of them opened her mouth to say something in return, when her companion pinched her arm and dragged said guard out of the room.

"I apologize for our mistreatment of you."

"Cut the bullshit I know it's you."

"Me? You do know it doesn't take a thinker to figure it out right?" Thrawn moved to a chair next to the bed while Lisa simply sat back on it.

Voice is calm. Right leg is slightly limping.

"So what's with the limp?" Lisa asked casually as Thrawn observed her through hidden eyes.

"A simply casualty of Operation Overdrive. Oni Lee got a bit lucky with his knife." Thrawn explained as she crossed her legs.

"Do you finally kept your promise huh?"

"I always keep my promises."

"Sure. Now what's next?"

"From what I see, you have several options. You can either leave town and stay on the run never knowing if you will be captured again, or forced into another gang. You could also join the Wards and be reassigned to another city."

"Or let me guess, work for you."

Thrawn shrugged her shoulders.

"We do have dental."

Lisa let out a laugh and then formed a grin on her face.

"What's the catch?"

"No catch. You will be placed as the Director of the ASB."

"ASB?"

Asian selling beef.

"Ascendancy Security Bureau. Our intelligence division."

"Ahh. Could you take off the mask? I already know what you look like."

Thrawn stares at her for a few seconds before her glove covered hands reached up to her helmet. Pulling the helmet off with a small flourish, Thrawn showed her face.

Glowing red eyes stared back at Lisa.

"Well, the blue skin is new."

A/N

Well, I rewrote this chapter a dozen times from different POVs. I just died and couldn't find a way past, so I decided to skip past the fight.

I got an omake I want to write, but it might seem spoilerly, but it would take place at the end of Chimera. Sadly, I don't think I'll be able to write all the way to the end, so if enough people want I'll publish the omake later on.

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter with its mistakes.

I can already tell it's going to be controversial.


	27. Interlude4

"Does anyone want to tell me how we had 30 people dead in a single gang fight?" Director Piggot said coldly as she stared at the assembled heroes and PRT officers. Armsmaster ignored her as he studied reports and news articles in his visor. He hasn't been on the best terms with the Director since he barged into her office.

Flashback

The Receptionist blinked slowly as she pressed a button on her desk.

"Armsmaster to see Director Piggot."

"What does he want now?" Came the response. The Receptionist looked at Armsmaster who simply stared at her in return and said nothing.

"He says it's important."

It was quiet for a few seconds before the communicator came to life again.

"Let him in."

As soon as those words were spoken, Armsmaster ignored the Receptionist and walked into the Director's office.

The sight inside the office was a familiar one. Director Emily Piggot in the middle of her dialysis. Honestly, the women should simply give Panacea a call and stop being so inefficient.

"What is it now Armsmaster?" The Director said simply as she looked over a few reports. Armsmaster simply stood in front of her desk with his hands behind his back.

"I will be retaking command of the Wards." Armsmaster said simply and to the point. The Director slammed her papers on her desk and glared at Armsmaster.

"And what brought this change? Last I recall, you practically begged me to put them under PRT jurisdiction so you can focus on tinkering in that lab of yours."

Armsmaster sighed internally. That was true, but that didn't matter. Time to press onwards.

"That is true. However, the Shadow Stalker situation changed my mind. Clearly the Wards aren't as doing as well as your reports claim to be. You didn't reign in Shadow Stalker and now she caused one of her classmates to trigger. Said trigger is now a thinker and about halfway in exterminating the Merchants. The only reason the public hasn't found out is a miracle." Armsmaster said bluntly. "Clearly the Wards need a new direction."

Director Piggot kept glaring at Armsmaster before answering.

"No."

Armsmaster was expecting this. Naturally, he had a plan.

"Then I will be forced to submit a report for Director Costa-Brown and the Triumvirate."

"Report?" Director Piggot said seething.

"Yes. A report discussing the details regarding the trigger events of the parahuman known as Thrawn as well as her involvement while she was under your jurisdiction. This would most likely lead to a member of the Triumvirate coming to investigate on the fact that a powerful thinker gave the Wards the cold shoulder after a said member of the Wards caused her to trigger." Armsmaster said as he reviewed said report. "If you believe I am bluffing I can send you the report as well."

The room became silent for a few seconds.

"Fine. Talk to Deputy Director Renick about the paperwork and get out of my office." Piggot said simply as she turned around in her chair.

"Very well. Thank you Director." With that, Armsmaster left without another word.

Flashback end

"Better yet, how come we didn't have anyone respond till five minutes after the fighting stopped." Armsmaster himself was busy in his lab working when he was told the fighting was in process. Since Director Piggot told him to no longer get involved with Thrawn, he decided to let Miss Militia handle it, but he did show up on sight to prevent civilian casualties.

"The Wards were at a PR event with me on the other side of town when the fighting occurred. Assault and Battery had taken the day off." Triumph said as he looked around at his fellow heroes awkwardly. Velocity looked sheepish, while Miss Militia was quiet.

"Miss Militia was the first one on the scene." Armsmaster said as pulled on several videos that were taken by some idiot bystanders.

"Glory Girl was spotted at the scene fighting Oni Lee. Thrawn was also spotted commanding the battle when several trucks and suvs arrived. Their tactics, were underhanded, yet efficient. They ran over numerous members of the ABB before dismounting their vehicles and engaging their enemy." Miss Militia finally said. "I got there once the fighting stopped, but the aftermath was brutal."

Armsmaster would have to dissect the videos in greater detail later.

"Additionally, three explosions occurred in three separate locations around the city. It appeared that rumors that the ABB got their hands on a bomb tinker aren't false after all. Ascendancy members were spotted raiding one of the locations in Empire territory. Forensics indicate that the apartment was a drug house owned by the ABB. The apartment was listed under the name Lisa Wilborn. However, further research show that there isn't anyone named Lisa Wilborn living in or near Brockton Bay which means that is a possible alias created to avoid suspicion. Near the scene of the bombing, several men armed with tinkertech weapons were found dead in a black van. The vehicle was shot up with bullets and tinkertech lasers. We identified them as several mercenaries wanted by the CIA and Interpol. Most of not all have the death sentence or life in prison." Armsmaster added. Everything seemed like a setup to him. "The police are interviewing neighbors and people who happened to be in the area, but I doubt we will get much information out of them. Most people view them as people doing good, while others see vigilantes or another gang moving in. Hopefully the interviewees have the second view."

"We need to make a move before the city erupted into chaos. Increase Protectorate and PRT patrols. Ask other teams for reinforcements?" Velocity suggested.

"Hmm. Perhaps we can request that a member of the Triumvirate come and visit Brockton Bay for a training exercise. That would give us time in finding a way to restore peace. Maybe we could ask assistance from New Wave as well?" Miss Militia offered.

"Very well. I'll put in the petition to the Chief Director once we are finished here and make a call to Lady Photon."

Armsmaster nodded slowly. It was a good start in regaining order in the city. With Lung captured and this defeat, the ABB were most likely going to lick their wounds before Kaiser smelled the water in the blood. The Merchants were all holed up in whatever dump that the Ascendancy hadn't taken or burned to the ground. Skidmark, Mush and Squealer were most likely holed up in her lab, leaving the rest to fend for themselves. If the PRT doesn't act soon, Brockton Bay would be caught in a four way war.

"The Youth Guard would object to the Wards being put into the field." Miss Militia brought up. Armsmaster agreed silently.

"We could have them increase patrols on the Boardwalk to show we aren't out of the fight yet." Triumph said as he looked at Director Piggot and then at Armsmaster.

"That would be for the best. However, Shadow Stalker will be on punishment detail for the foreseeable future. She will not be going out on patrols or let out of the base except for school." Armsmaster said. He didn't need Shadow Stalker left to her free will and attempting another shot at the Hebert's. "As much as we need the manpower, she is a liability."

"I agree with you for once." Director Piggot replied dryly.

Armsmaster simply nodded in return before looking at his reports again.

"Meeting adjourned. We have a lot of work to do." Director Piggot said as she got up and left without any fanfare. Most of the silent PRT officers left with her.

Armsmaster stood up, and simply left for his lab. Then, the alarm went off with red lights blazing.

"Report." Armsmaster said simply as he pressed a button on his communicator.

"THE ABB ARE ATTACKING. ONI LEE FREED LUNG."

Well, that was a surprise.


	28. 23

Tattletale was an interesting person. She likes to mess with people's minds and can suffer from tunnel vision when she has a grudge. Tattletale's standard tactic, reveal someone's secrets, act like she can read their mind and promptly manipulate them to do whatever she wants. She gets frustrated when she is not the smartest person in the room, or when someone figures out the way her power works. All in all, Sarah Livsey is an interesting person who should not be given the position of an intelligence gathering division. That's why I made her the ASB's director. Sure she would perform better as an asset or consultant, but she needed a reason to stay and not move on to a different city. All I need her to do is fail or make a mistake, reduce her to a consultant and she will firmly be in my grip. She can't read me as well as she would like to of course.

Suddenly, my communicator sprang to life. Right on schedule of course. Accepting the call, L33T's holographic blue form appeared in the middle of my desk.

"Hey Boss, uh the ABB are trying to break Lung out." L33T's said hesitantly. I expected this to happen sooner than later. So far the ABB only managed to get themselves embarrassed by an unknown group.

"Prepare available squads. Let the Protectorate and New Wave handle Lung. Mark all remaining ABB hideouts except for Bakuda's lab. Leak her tinker base online on the E88's forum. They need a victory to show that they are still around. Let them waste their strength on her defenses." Thank you Tattletale. It turned out that Coil had her locate Empire and ABB potential and confirmed bases. "Captain Sullivan already has his orders."

With this, I call checkmate. Once it's complete of course. No plan goes survives first contact with the enemy. With all the chaos going on in the city, a member of the Triumvirate is sure to come. That period of time would be one of expanding and fortifying our current bases of operation. Afterwards I can finally get rid of the remaining Merchants holded up in Squealers lab and focus on the Empire.

"Got it Big Boss. Anything else?" L33T's weird chimera masked bobbed up and down.

"Prepare Inferno squad. I want them to keep an eye on Tattletale. I don't trust Coil. Have Twilight squad follow Mr. Hebert"

"Ok ok. L33T out." WIth that the connection was cut. Standing up, I walked into the hidden closet in my office and began to undress. Grabbing the black uniform, I changed piece by piece. This white uniform I was wearing isn't fit for combat situations. However, that wasn't the main reason I needed to use the black color was much more subtle.

In Japanese and Chinese culture, the color black is a symbol of power often meaning death, destruction and bad luck. Thankfully, the ABB was full of such Asians who share similar views.

Grabbing my long hair, I began to tie it into a simple bun. Time for the finishing touch. My helmet. It took some damage during that last battle with the ABB, but I had L33T fix it. Thankfully, L33T's miracle machine doesn't have the exploding problems he has when he personally works on something he did before.

Pressing a button on the side of my helmet, I activated my communicator.

"Report to the control room Director. Your vacation time is over."

I have no doubt Lung could tear through the Procterotate, I just need them to distract the main ABB force long enough for me to seize and burn their hideouts down to the ground if their position isn't useful. Then, I can reorganize my forces and take on the Merchant Remnants and the E88.

All according to plan.

Tattletale POV

Lisa was happy. Actually, that was how she felt in the simplest of forms. She was happy that she was no longer under the thumb of Coil. Lisa felt a bit of suspicion towards Thrawn for helping her. People don't do anything for free after all. Plus they had only spoken once before, but that didn't exactly make them friends or that close to each other. Still, working for Taylor seemed a lot better than working for Coil.

Currently she was exploring the room she was assigned to. Not that she was paranoid or anything. Lisa was just...searching for bugs! That's right. Bugs, electronic or otherwise. With her power it should be easy to find and disable any, except there wasn't any to be found. SIghing, Lisa laid back on her new bed. _Remodeled dock warehouse. Located deep in the docks judging by the smell of the water._

"Report to the control room Director. Your vacation time is over." Lisa's communicator sprang to life. Feeling a grim smile overtake her face, Lisa forced it into one of her signature grins. She had an image to maintain after all.

"Welp, time to go to work." Straightening up her grey uniform and grabbing her domino mask, Lisa walked out. She looked stupid.

Making her way to their current hideout control room, Lisa began to think back on the Undersiders. They most likely thought she was dead, with the way she was taken. Oh well, she needed a new name. Definitly a new costume too, this grey Nazi-looking uniform and domino mask arent going to cut it.

After a few seconds, Lisa reached the door that led to the control room. After showing her new ID to the guards standing outside, Lisa walked in.

"What's up Boss?" Lisa said casually as she strolled up to the holographic projector in the middle of the room. Standing off to the side stood Uber and L33T in their new makeovers. The rest of the room was filled with a handful of men and women dressed in black or grey staring straight at her. Right in the center of the room, dressed from head to toe in black stood Thrawn.

"Nice of you to arrive on time." Her foreign voice said in return. "L33T was getting anxious." Said person glared at her in response.

"Boss Lady got on our ass whenever we're late." _Annoyed Thrawn isn't mad at me for being a few minutes late._

"Ah."

"Quiet. Operation Mockingbird is about to begin. Uber, you what to do." He simply did an overdramatic salute and marched out of the room with a handful of the black uniformed officers.

"Contact Operative Rukh. I want her to break off and head to the marked location. Keep me updated on the fight with Lung." Grey uniformed men and women quickly went back to work.

Fight with Lung? _ABB attempting to bust Lung out of PRT confinement before he is sent off to the birdcage._

"I want you to monitor the fight Tattletale. Keep me informed of any variables that might occur." Thrawn motioned to a desk covered in a few computer screens showing off said fight.

"Ok. Are we going to help?" Lisa felt herself asking. She wished she could get her power to work on Taylor, but all she gets are headaches whenever she tries.

"Of course not. We don't have any capes capable of assisting and even if we did, it would be a waste of resources."

"What?" _Has something else planned. Posture is confident._

"I'm going to tear apart the ABB piece by piece. Let Lung escape, he will return to his kingdom of ashes. He will have no place to hide. Of course, his rage will have no bounds." Thrawn said confidently as she turned her helmeted head towards her.

"Ascendancy men dressed as skinheads will attack certain hideouts. E88 armbands and propaganda will be littered near their hideouts that we burn. The most defensible positions will remain in our hands."

Lisa's eyes widen slowly.

"You're planning on making it seem like we're skinheads or that the E88 did those attacks."

Thrawn nodded.

"Why waste our strength when the enemy can waste theirs. It's not like Lung will believe that the Empire didn't do it. Especially since the evidence will be scattered around.

Thrawn faceplate stared straight into Lisa's eyes, and she swore she saw the glowing red behind it.

Lisa felt her face heat up a bit before nodding.

"Head to your stations." Lisa did an exaggerated salute and went to her new computer. Then, she heard Thrawn say something that sent chills down her spine.

"For a better Brockton Bay I will destroy it."

A/N

Damn it's been a while. Writers block and lack of inspiration made me just stare at my google docs until I forced myself to finish this chapter. Not my best work, but I was bored. Next story I might update will either be another chapter for this one, Skaven, or Stannis.

Hope you enjoyed this overdue chapter.

Krieg


	29. 24

"What do you mean I'm not allowed to leave!?" Sophia seethed through her teeth as she glared at Aegis. Said person glared at her through his domino mask and stood his ground.

"Armsmaster's orders. You are to be confined to the base and handle console duty once Gallant's shift is over." Aegis said simply and slowly as if Sophia was stupid. That made her blood boil. This past week had kept Shadow Stalker busy with whatever target Thrawn had given her. They communicated with some weird tinkertech communicator Thrawn gave her.

"Director Piggy is in charge of the Wards, not Armsmaster." Sophia replied coldly. She wasn't about to let this slide. Thrawn had just given her a new list of drug houses and dog fighting rings to bust.

"Armsmaster has retaken command with Director Piggot's full support."

Sophia doubted that. Piggy didn't always get along with the old Beard. Everyone heard about how Armsmaster barged into Piggy's office, demanded something, and left. She heard from some gossiping interns that Armsmaster had rejected Piggy's declaration of love. Others said that Armsmaster wanted to be in control again. Now that Sophia thought about it, that first idea was pretty stupid.

Getting ready for her response, they were interrupted when the room shook, and a loud boom sounded out through the base. Red lights and an annoying siren noise overtook the room as the room kept shaking.

"ONI LEE AND THE ABB ARE TRYING TO BREAK LUNG OUT!" Their intercom sprang to life. Aegis quickly pulled out his phone and started calling someone, probably, Miss Militia or even Armsmaster for all she knew. Feeling a sudden vibration coming from her tinkertech communicator, she ran towards her room.

Answering it, she held it close to her ear.

"Shadow Stalker here. The ABB are trying to break out-"

"Lung we know. Boss has some new orders for you. It seems that your position won't be sustainable anymore with the drama between the Director and Armsmaster. You are to head to the locations sent to your personal phone. An escort will be waiting for you." An unfamiliar male voice said. Sophia bit her bottom lip as she felt her anger rise up.

"I'm not going to run. I can help fight Lung and-"

"And nothing of importance will come of it." A new accented voice entered the conversation. This one Sophia knew. Before Sophia could speak, Thrawn spoke again.

"You are not required to do as ordered. Take it as a simple suggestion. We both know that Armsmaster wont stop with a simple punishment detail. Do you really want to go to Juvie? I believe that's what it's called anyways. The escort will lead you to one of our safe houses where you will receive your next instructions. I know you don't need the protection, but better safe than sorry.Remember, this is the best way you can clean up the streets."

Swallowing the saliva that built up in her mouth. Sophia nodded.

"Got it."

"Excellent. I'll be waiting for you Shadow Stalker." With that, the transmission was cut.

It was time to leave it seemed.

Sullivan Penny POV

Sullivan Penny was no stranger to violence. Serving with the military, and then his own experience as a private investigator had left him with plenty of images he would not like to see again. Then Thrawn walked into his life with an offer he couldn't refuse. Sure he wasn't a Brockton Bay native, but that didn't mean he couldn't call this place his home. He wanted to do some good with his life, and this was the best way to do it.

"No sign of anyone yet sir." Sullivan turned to his right and nodded at his second in command. Miguel Chavez was a Brockton Bay native who lived in a poorer side of town. Apparently he joined because he got tired of the ABB and E88 harassing the hispanic population, which led to him along with dozens of others joining the Ascendancy for protection and to make a difference.

"Keep an eye out son. Boss told me that this particular person is a slippery person." Sullivan said softly as several ambulances drove past them with their sirens screaming. He trusted his company. Sullivan trained all of them himself to be the best, which led to some rivalry with Uber's men.

Nodding, Miguel saluted and went to go check on their other members. Currently they were waiting in some rundown apartment located in former Merchant territory for an associate Thrawn wanted them to escort. Besides that, Sullivan didn't know anymore details.

"Penny squad this is Dime squad. Movement has been spotted. Scanners show some type of mist entering the building."

"Got it. Bring the SUV around and have Nickel squad do the same with theirs."

"Yes sir. Euro leader out."

Suddenly, Sullivan turned around quickly to come face to face with a crossbow aimed directly in between his eyes.

"A pleasure to see you here Shadow Stalker." Sullivan said calmly. He practiced imitating Thrawn in the mirror. On the inside, he was cursing himself for not wearing more protection beside his body armor.

"So you're the first voice that I heard." Her voice was a bit younger than he expected, but then again. She was a member of the Wards, all who were under the age of 18.

"Correct." She slowly lowered the crossbow until it was aimed at the ground. Reaching for his communicator, Sully motioned her to follow him.

"Contact has arrived. We're leaving now. Head to the rendezvous point."

"Yes sir. See you there Captain."

Several seconds later, Sully and his squad exited the building. Turning his head to Shadow Stalker, who had finally holstered her crossbow, he motioned his head to a white SUV.

"Me and you are riding in that one. Everyone else will follow."

"Sure." Was all she said. Sully didn't trust her. During his time as a PI he had investigated several attacks, all with the victim being brutally beaten or having puncture wounds. Apparently, he also heard rumors that she couldn't help out sometimes if she saw someone being robbed or killed. She was the worst hero Sullivan has ever heard of. Disgusting.

Quickly settling themselves inside of the vehicle, Sully ordered the driver to go.

Explosions littered certain areas of the city. Thrawn made sure to plan each attack herself to maximize the damage they would cause.

Pulling his communicator out, Sullivan made an important call.

"On our way to the safe house."

Sully swore he could hear her smirk.

A/N

Im trying to start the habit of writing on a daily basis again. I hope everyone enjoyed it even though nothing much happened this time.

Feel free to comment, favorite, and follow!

Krieg


	30. 25

"Contact the BBPD. Send them an anonymous hint that ABB and E88 gangbangers are fighting near current Merchant territory. Keep an eye out for any parahuman reinforcements near the fight with Lung."

Currently, the operation was going smoothly. Commanding from the console room, my eyes were constantly focused on the overall plan. Memories of Thrawn commanding battles from his Star Destroyer flashed through my mind.

"Uber squad, cut off their reinforcements and head through the alleyways." Uber really needed to change his cape name, L33T too.

"New Wave has arrived. Brandish, Manpower and Lady Photon have engaged Lung." Tattletale spoke up from her console. "Glory Girl, and Laserdream are evacuating noncombatants. Shielder is covering for them."

Hmm, no Flashbang? They havent deployed the Wards yet either. Quite interesting. It was nice to see that Glory Girl remembered what happened last time she fought Lung. However, that won't change the end result of this fight.

"Captain Sullivan has reached the Safe House with the asset. They are currently waiting for their next orders." Excellent, the Taylor part of me wanted to make Sophia suffer, to make her feel the pain that she made me feel, but the Thrawn part of me wanted to use her skills and abilities to advance my goals.

"Excellent. Have Dime and Nickel squad head to these coordinates. I want them to extract our undercover men." My eyes went to Tattletale. "How long until the fight is over?"

Tattletale stared at her screen before turning to look at me.

"Five minutes. Dauntless and Velocity have been injured. Armsmaster is running on adrenaline now. He can't get a chance to use the sedative in his halberd." Perfect, that would be more than enough time. Whoever was in charge of the Protectorate's tactics in Brockton Bay needed to be fired and thrown out into space.

Lung's hearing and sight become more sensitive as his transformation begins. A flashbang and white noise would be simple enough distraction to sedate him. Dangerous, but a better chance of succeeding than their current strategy.

"Keep me updated. I want progress on all locations."

A communications officer spoke up.

"Uber Squad has taken their target with minimum casualties. Twilight Squad and Cody Squad have managed to burn down ABB drug farms with some casualties. Other squads are reporting their successes as well." Good, I wanted this strike to be as fast and efficient as possible.

"Burn down any location we cant use."

Another officer stood up and turned to me with fearful eyes.

"The E88 are making a move! Hookwolf, Cricket and Stormtiger are assaulting Bakuda's lab. BBPD officers are engaging Merchant Remnants."

I felt my ever present smirk form on my face.

"Have all squads fall back to their assigned safe houses as soon as possible. I don't want any fights with the Empire, at the moment that is." Fighting a three way war would end with more bloodshed on all sides.

"How long until you have the footage ready to go on the PHO." I turned to L33T who was staring at a screen controlling various probe droids around the city.

"Eh give me and the boys about 30 minutes to get it done." L33T said with a shrug as he high-fived his team. They were...the weirdest people in the Ascendancy. Greg would fit in with them, being the butt of every joke.

"The ABB are pulling back, Lung has escaped. Dozens of bangers are either dead or captured." Tattletale said loudly. She also needed a new name.

"Good. I'll be in my office if something comes up." I said to no one in particular and left the room. Lung was a powerful parahuman, beating him in a straight fight would be very difficult, but thanks to Tattletale, certain information she provided would make a victory easier to attain.

Making my way towards my office, I entered and locked the door behind me. Then, I began to stop the flow of Thrawn's memories and fell to my knees. Taking deep breaths, I took off my helmet as I felt myself start to shake.

I had been letting the Thrawn part of me take charge more often and for longer periods of time. It wasn't exactly the most healthy thing to do. I had been so busy, I haven't even talked to Dad in a while.

Touching my face, I felt water and looked at the mirror in my office. Heh, I was crying. Weird, monsters don't cry, especially those who caused the amount of damage I have. How many lives were taken in this attack I ordered or the others? I could probably ask Tattletale later, but I'd probably forget.

"Still holding on to the past I see." My body froze. Looking towards the mirror again, Thrawn's red eyes met my own.

"You!" I snarled as I walked to the mirror. Thrawn's indifferent face simply stared back at me.

"What are you doing to me?" I shouted as I punched the wall next to the mirror. Thankfully, my room was soundproof.

"Nothing. You seem to have forgotten that I am a simple figment of your imagination so to speak. I cannot do anything to harm you. Taylor, you are the one doing this." Thrawn said softly. He looked impeccable in his pristine white uniform. I balled my blue hands into fist and glared at him. Thrawn simply kept speaking.

"Deep down, you know what you are sacrificing and why. A better Brockton Bay for future generations, and despite the intellect you have been given, you are still thinking too small." Too small huh?

Thrawn frowned.

"You won't be the same person once we fully merge."

I simply laughed in return.

"I'm going insane aren't I. Talking to some weird alien whose memories are in my head." The laugh turned into a bitter one as I turned away from him.

"I wouldn't exactly say insane. After all, there is a fine line between genius and insanity."

When I turned around, my own features greeted me. Sighing, I sat on my chair and put my hands on my head. I need a break. Looking up, I noticed a card sitting on my desk. This could work even though she might be busy right now.

Picking up my phone, I dialed the number in and waited.

"Hey Glory Girl." My accented voice said.

Victoria Dallon POV

Vicky was surprised when she received a phone call from an unknown number. Normally she would simply block it and move on, but this time her gut told her to pick it up. What was even more surprising, was Thrawn wanting to hang out for some reason.

The end result, Victoria waiting at a restaurant her parents used when talking with other capes. She sometimes came here with the Ward's when they were not busy. Amy was still at the hospital dealing with the aftermath of today's fighting and probably wouldn't be out for another while.

"Did I keep you waiting long?" A voice behind Vicky said. Quickly turning around, she stared into glowing red sunglasses. Thrawn was wearing a black hoodie that covered her head along with matching gloves and pants. The most surprising part, blue skin was nowhere to be found.

"N-no." Vicky replied surprised. Practically reading her mind, Thrawn spoke again.

"Make-up and tinkertech. For some reason they can't do anything about my eyes though." She said shrugging. Vicky could sense her smirk under her mask.

"That's so cool! Anyways, let's go in." Vicky grabbed Thrawn's gloved hand and practically dragged her in. Their host kept an unfazed look on his face as he led them to their private table. Quietly hidden in a corner, they ordered their meals as Thrawn pulled her mask off and pocketed her sunglasses once the waiter left.

"I didnt want anyone noticing me out on the street. I believe I already made enough enemies for a lifetime. Rumors of my red eyes and blue skin are already spreading, though many simply see it as Empire propoganda." Thrawn explained.

"Well, its not like there are other ways you could hide it." Victoria said casually. Thrawn's glowing red eyes were mesmorizing.

"I guess. How was your day Glory Girl?" Thrawn asked a bit awkwardly. Her accent was so cute.

"Call me Victoria or Vicky out of costume and it was alright I guess. Aside from Lung escaping that is." Vicky said as she took a sip from her lemonade.

"Ah, call me Taylor then." Thr-Taylor said with a smile.

Vicky could tell that this was the start of a beautiful friendship.

Now she could use Thrawn's tinker power to keep an eye on Dean.

Just kidding...

 **A/N**

 **Yeah this one is going to be pretty controversial (Its gonna make people mad)**


	31. 26

(Three days after the Lung escaped)

Logan enjoyed the fights. Betting money on dog fights always made him a profit. What made it even better? Hookwolf himself placed him in charge of this particular ring. Looking out from his private balcony, the sound of dogs growling and snarling filled the air. A large crowd of people had already gathered around the metal cage where today's contestants fought it out.

Logan frowned softly when he heard someone walking up to him. He ordered the bouncer to not let anyone through without his permission.

Nice establishment you have here Logan. The figure said as he sat next to Logan. Logan balls his fist and turns to look at his new companion.

What do you want Brad? Logan said curtly. Brad was another Empire Lieutenant that wanted his position. Being in charge of Dog fighting ring or a drug ring made a lot of money if you didn't get caught. Brad was currently in charge of a handful of dealers and from what Logan heard, the BBPD and PRT are cracking them down hard. Logan had no doubt that the Ascendancy would follow soon after. Especially after they finished off the Chinks.

Just here to admire the fights. Brad said casually as he took a cigarette out of his pocket. Taking a quick puff, they sat in silence for a few minutes before Brad broke the silence again.

Did you hear about the cape who is hunting down dog fighting rings?

Ah, Hellhound. Apparently the bitch was launching raids against every dog fighting ring in the city. It was making a dent in the Empires pocket, and making Hookwolf angry. She had no chance once Hookwolf decides she has been enough of an annoyance and has her killed. Hopefully before she manages to track down Logans ring of course.

Yeah, but I'm not worried about that whore. If she messes with the Empire, shell get the hook. Logan replied with a shrug. Logan made sure to have more guards and guns than usual. Shell be gunned down before she even gets close to us.

Suddenly, the front door burst open and two monstrous beast charged in. Why hadn't the guards alerted him?

It's Hellhound! Logan heard one of his guards scream. Soon, the sound of gunfire drowned out the sound of his dogs fighting. Pulling his gun out, Logan took a few potshots to look at Brad who was now missing. The screams of his men now drowned out their gunfire.

Damn he's gone. Wait. This was a set-up! Brad led them here. Either that or he was followed but Logan didn't care. Seeing red, Logan ran away from the fight and went to his escape car hoping that those monsters would be distracted by his guys. Making sure he had gone unnoticed, Logan reached his black SUV. Noticing someone had already climbed into the driver seat, as per his plan, Logan screamed.

GET ME OUT OF HERE!

You got it Boss." Said an unfamiliar voice. Logan didn't care to notice who it was. He wasn't going to end up one of Hellhounds pets chewing toys, or in jail! Taking a deep breath and rubbing his meaty fingers, Logan closed his eyes. Once he was safe, Brad was going to pay. Logan smirked evilly as he thought about doing the deed himself, but Hookwolf was probably going to want to do it himself.

The Empire deals with its traitors. After a few minutes, Logan was taken out of his thoughts by the truck stopping.

Were here Boss. Said his driver. He must have taken a shortcut to Logans safe house. Logan wasn't aware of such paths, but it was nice to see some initiative. Now he needed to report to Hookwolf, or have some noname banger do it so he won't have to face his wrath.

Opening his door, Logans nose was assaulted with the smell of rust and salt. This wasn't his safe house! Logans driver took him to the Docks! Looking through the Driver window, a figure in a black mask waved at him.

Quickly reaching for his gun, a voice spoke before he could draw it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The feminine voice was young. Turning around, Logan's pupils widened. Standing in front of him was a woman in a grey uniform and cap. However, what stood out the most was the plain white mask that hid her face, it's only decoration, a simple bird singing its song.

Standing to her side, stood at least half a dozen men and women on each side. Armed with their light rifles and guns aimed at him, their black clothing made the Cape's grey stand out even more. Their armbands and patches sewn onto their uniforms signifying their allegiance to Brockton Bay's newest gang.

"Now, would you please put your gun down." Their leader said with a high and cheerful voice. "We can either do this the easy way, or the hard way."

Growling, Logan spat in her direction when the Cape sighed.

"Hard way it is then."

Logan never noticed the Driver get out of the SUV.

Waking up to the feeling of water being splashed on his face, Logan woke up abruptly to find himself chained to a chair.

"What the-"

"A pleasure to see you awake again." The same voice from earlier spoke. The cape from earlier sat across from him. Feeling rage overtake him, Logan surged forward, only for the metal chains attached to him holding him back.

"Tsk tsk. I would calm down if I were you." The cape said. She leaned back casually. "Just do as I say and no harm will come to you."

Logan glared at the Cape and spat in her direction again. Only a few drops landed on her mask which she calmly wiped away with a napkin.

"Welp. Third times the charm I guess. Do that again and your daughter won't live to see tomorrow."

Logan's rebuttal died in his throat. How did she know that? Logan made sure to keep his Empire work away from his family. The Cape leaned forward and pressed a button on her tinkertech gauntlet. A small robot looking entered the room and set itself on the table in between them.

Pictures of his beloved daughter formed above the table, along with a video that made Logan's heart freeze. His daughter was at home with her Mom and a mysterious van was parked right outside their house.

"This video is happening in real time. Tell me everything I want to know, and she won't be harmed. I'm sure what's left of the ABB would appreciate her as a peace offering." His captor said simply.

Swallowing the saliva that had built up in his throat, Logan nodded.

"Wonderful!" The Cape said with an unnatural cheerfulness. Sliding a folder in front of him, the Cape tilted her head.

"Confirm how many Empire locations there are in the city. I want the names of any dealers and people of importance."

Logan would die for this, but at least his daughter would be safe. Touching the folder, Logan spoke up again.

"Promise me you wont hurt her."

"Of course! In fact, my Boss guarantees her protection." The cheerful voice replied.

With that, Logan opened the folder and what he saw made him feel a chill in his bones. Dozens of pictures with a detailed map of the city, along with marked Empire locations. Each location was accurate, and even had pictures with those in charge. Logan even saw a picture of himself.

"Why do you need me? It seems you already had the job done." Logan asked bitterly.

"My Boss just wants to confirm and to see if there is anything we missed." The Cape said solemnly as she dramatically began fanning herself with her cap. "Now get to work."

Logan didn't know how much time had passed once he was done. Sliding the folder back to the Cape, he leaned back in his chair.

"Excellent work Logan. I'm sure Laura will be very proud of her Father. I'll be sure to have her remember the hero you are." The Cape stood up, and with another press of her gauntlet, two masked men walked in. Quickly turning to look at them, the Cape sauntered out of the room.

"Make sure you dispose of the body properly."

Logan's eyes practically popped out of his head.

"WAIT! THIS WASN'T PART OF THE DEAL!." Logan screamed struggling against the chains as one of her manwhores pulled a small revolver out of his pocket while the other took out green and orange paint. She turned her head slightly.

"I don't remember saying I'll let you live. After all, loose lips sink ships. Tataaaaa~ have fun boys."

"As you say Director Nightswan." This made Logan struggle even more when he realized something.

They were going to use him to send a message.

All Logan heard was the door closing behind Nightswan, and the following gunshot.

Amy POV

(A couple hours after Lung escaped)

Amy was tired. She spent most of her time today at the hospital healing those who were injured in the fight with Lung, or those injured by the fighting the E88 and Ascendancy caused. Amy had lost count of how many people had come in with numerous injuries. Times like these made Amy wish she could do more, but she was limited by her range and the amount of hours she could spend at the hospital on any given day.

She was only able to stay five hours today, with more people still being rushed in as she left. Pulling her phone out to call Vicky, Amy stopped herself. Victoria had invited her to go to dinner with one of her 'friends', but Amy had declined in favor of doing good at the hospital. Sighing, Amy decided to make the call.

After two rings, Vicky finally answered.

"Hey Amy. What's up? Finally done with your shift?" Victoria said before Amy could open her mouth.

"Uh yeah. I'm standing outside right now. How was dinner?" Amy replied. They didn't have much time to talk today, with school, Lung and the aftermath of today's fighting. The Ascendancy seems to keep escalating in their attacks which means more hours at the hospital. Amy had heard more than one unhappy person disgruntled with them. It mostly involved Amy healing them while they screamed about terrorists and wannabe vigilantes. Plus, it didn't exactly help that the ones screaming were wounded Merchant and ABB bangers. So far Amy hadn't seen any skinheads brought in because of the Ascendancy.

"It was fun. You should come next time. You're gonna love Taylor. Anyway I'll be there in a few minutes." Victoria said happily. Amy could feel Vicky smile from the other side of the telephone. Hopefully Taylor wasn't some random person trying to be friends with Vicky to take advantage of her.

"Sure. See you soon."

With that, Amy hung up and sat on a nearby bench. The cold air being kept at bay by Amy's hood. Checking what new thread had popped up on PHO, Amy quickly watched whatever video the Ascendancy released today. Their videos were actually well edited, and often made the PRT look rather incompetant. Amy didn't particularly care, but deep inside she felt a certain satisfaction at their embarrassment.

A few minutes later, Victoria had arrived in her casual clothes looking perfect as always.

"Hey Ames. Sorry I'm a bit late, I had a few questions for Taylor to answer before we left." That was a bit weird.

"Uh ok. What type of questions?" Amy felt her lips move on their own.

"The ones that only a thinker would know." Victoria said with a wink.

Oh no.

There was only one thinker that was in Brockton Bay that Amy knew from recent memory.

Before Amy could speak up, Victoria picked her up in a bridal hold and flew up into the air.

Amy really needed a smoke.


	32. 27

Shadow Stalker was bored. After her arrival to Thrawn's safe house, Captain Sullivan handed her another communicator leaving only one squad to keep an eye on her. Technically, she wasn't a prisoner, but it certainly felt like it. Sure she could have left anytime she wanted, but then the PRT would come down hard on her for breaking her parole. So after two days of playing cards and cursing out her guards, two mysterious SUVs pulled into the alleyway adjacent to the safe house. Sophia was in the middle of her weapon maintenance when she walked in. Flanked by some blonde wearing a white mask with a bird, and a huge guy covered head to toe in black armor with glowing green eyes, Thrawn seemed a bit out of place with her white uniform and armor. A far cry to the black armor Sophia had first seen her in. It looked good on her.

"I apologize for making you wait Shadow Stalker." Her accented voice said. "Cleaning up the aftermath of our previous raids required a certain...hands on management. Allow me to introduce you to my associates."

Thrawn motioned towards the blonde in the grey uniform. Sophia felt herself get a bit angry just looking at her.

"This is Director Nightswan." Said person did an overdramatic bow with a wave of her matching grey cap.

"You can just call me Nightswan." Sophia could literally hear Nightswan's face turn into an overdone grin. Sophia already didn't like her.

Motioning to the hunk of muscle to her other side. "And this is Cipher One." He only gave her a stiff nod as he fondled the rather large tinkertech rifle that hung to his side. That didn't seem healthy.

"Now that we are all acquainted, I have some presents for you Shadow Stalker." With a snap of her finger, two men clothed in darker shades of grey with the ever present chimera symbol walked in with a decent sized box. Settling it down in front of her, both men quickly left. Now that she thought about it, the squad guarding her had disappeared as well.

Settling herself in the recliner opposite to her, Nightswan seemed to make herself feel at home while Cipher One stood next to Thrawn's right.

Slowly opening the box, Sophia felt an evil smirk form on her face when she saw its contents. Looking up at Thrawn, Sophia spoke.

"When do I start?"

"Effective immediately. Better accommodations have been arranged for you at a different location." Was Thrawn's simple response. Sophia nodded and closed the box.

"I look forward to working with you Shadow Stalker."

"Sure."

This was going to be fun.

Nightswan POV

Lisa loved grinning. Why? It got on everyone's nerves, sadly her new mask covered her entire face and hid her beautiful smile from the world.

"Make sure that Shadow Stalker stays busy. We also need her to change her name." Thrawn said from Lisa's side. Glancing down at her tablet, she didn't bother to look at Lisa.

Uber was currently riding in the SUV following theirs with Shadow Stalker. He didn't like being called Cipher One, saying it was lame and shit. Well, it wasn't like he had any other ideas. Thrawn assured him it was only temporary until he thought of a better one.

"Uh Huh. Did you notice the looks she was giving you?" Lisa grinned under her bird mask. Is only paying a small amount of attention. Planning her next move.

"No. I was rather busy making sure she gets to work as soon as possible." Came Thrawn's response. She has her body sitting up straight. Makes her look taller than she already is. Only lets me read what she wants me to know

"Ohhhh~ ok. I'll let you figure it out later then."

"Very well. It is of no importance anyways. Shadow Stalker is simply a tool to be used." Thrawn said simply as she activated a hologram.

Numerous pictures of Asian styled art appeared. Is studying her opponent through art.

"What's this?" Lisa asked casually as she admired the artwork. Suffering is plainly seen as a common theme. Was a former prisoner of the Yangban.

"Art painted by one Kenta Tokugawa. He was an amatuer artist that painted the aftermath of Kyushu." Thrawn said softly as she enlarged said picture. The art was drawn in the traditional Japanese art style. However, what stood out the most to Lisa, was the giant metal dragon facing off against Leviathan. Lung is the artist.

Thrawn finally turned to look at Lisa. Lisa swore she could see her glowing red eyes behind her mask.

"Do you see it? Or are you still blind. Art is the pathway into one's soul, into one's mindset. With this, I can beat Lung." Thrawn said confidently as she turned her attention back to the tablet. "Of course, it would be next to impossible to beat Lung in a straight fight with the equipment and manpower we have right now."

Lisa nodded in return. The Ascendancy would face heavy casualties and loss of its social momentum.

"Lung has managed to go toe to toe with Leviathan as well as fight off numerous members of the Protectorate and Empire capes. He is a worthy opponent. After all, he is cunning enough to still be a major powerhouse despite being outnumbered by the Empire and PRT. There is however, one drawback to this." Thrawn then focused on a single photo.

"He can't be everywhere at once, and neither can't Oni Lee and Bakuda."

With that, Lisa managed to get a good view of the photo.

A rather large asian man smiling with his family dressed in kimonos. Lung.

"Continue your current operations. I trust we are still on for dinner tonight?" Thrawn said casually. Lisa nodded before smiling again.

"Sure. Maybe this time you can tell me about your beef with Shadow Stalker. I've seen the way you act around her." Lisa replied behind her bird mask. For someone that liked to point out patterns, Thrawn had plenty of her own.

Thrawn simply shrugged and turned her modified tablet off.

"You do know this plan is crazy right?"

"Audentes fortuna invat."

Lisa's grin grew even bigger.

Fortune favors the bold.

This is going to be fun

Armsmaster POV

Colin was tired. Not just physically, but mentally as well. The fight with Lung took a lot out of him, and he hated to admit this but he slowly felt age catching up to him. Lung tore straight through them with Oni Lee dropping various tinker made explosives. As soon as the fight was over, Colin noticed something wasn't right.

He wouldn't find out until he got back to his lab.

While the Protectorate and New Wave were busy trying to hold off the ABB, the E88 and the Ascendancy launched their assault on ABB territory. Hookwolf, Stormtiger and Cricket were spotted attacking some old Chinatown restaurant. It turned out to be Bakuda's lab, which resulted in Stormtiger's body being blown to pieces while Hookwolf tore through her defenses.

Reports indicated that Bakuda survived, but her lab was lost and blown apart. It was then that an idea ran through his mind.

Thrawn did this. She manipulated all of them into fighting to advance her own goals. Like the majority of the heroes battled Lung, she took advantage and assaulted ABB territory. It irked Colin that they were used in such a fashion, but from a tactical standpoint, Colin respected Thrawn. If only she had joined the Wards.

What made matters even worse, Shadow Stalker had escaped during the confusion and was currently missing. This made Colin so angry, he poured his emotions into his tinkering.

No doubt Director Piggot was going to use this against him.

"Colin, Cooooooolin." Armsmaster was taken out of his thoughts by Dragon's voice. Not turning to look at her avatar on his screen, Colin kept his focus on his newest halberd.

"Sorry. Did something come up?" Colin said coldly. He really shouldn't take this out on Dragon.

"Not really. I was wondering if you were ok? After what happened with Lung." Dragon sounded a bit concerned.

"Im fine. I need to improve on the sedative to make it work faster." Colin grumbled as he began to focus again.

"You do know it's not your fault right?"

Colin sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"That's where you're wrong Dragon." Colin turned to look at her avatar.

"This is all my fault."

And Colin would do anything to make things right.

A/N

Took me a bit longer than I liked to finish this chapter. Mostly because I want to fix Armsmaster. This arc I want to use other POV's besides Thaylor to make things a bit more interesting.

Plus I need new cape names for Uber, L33T and SS. Feel free to suggest any you think would fit.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter.

Krieg


	33. 28

Flicker was getting annoyed. Being an independant hero was hard work with no benefits aside from feeling good about yourself for a job well done. That and she couldn't exactly go home. There were still more people to save, people who didn't have heroes to save them. People like her, who suffer while the so called Heroes of theProtectorate do nothing.

Quickly adjusting her cheap mask that represented comedy and tragedy, Flicker went along on her patrol. It mostly involved walking on the rooftops with the occasional teleport. Patrols...have gotten kinda interesting. The Merchants kept themselves holed up in the area near Squealer's lab (though some dealers would try to expand every once in a while), the ABB were licking their wounds from the ass-whooping that the Ascendancy gave them, and the Empire seemed happy to watch from the sidelines while continuing their own businesses. Flicker liked it this way.

Eventually, the sound of voices took Flicker out of her thoughts. Looking down the alley she was close to, Flicker took her bat out. Sounded like some skinheads wanted to get their asses beat.

"I-I don't have any money!"

Ignoring the bangers reply, Flicker teleported a bit closer. Two skinheads were harassing a lone black male. Really? No sane colored person would walk through Empire territory at night. Still, it was Flicker's duty as a hero to save the idiot!

"Fools! How dare you menace an innocent bystander! Fear me, for I am your wrath, I am the night, I am FLICKKKKKKKKKERRRRR." With a battle cry, Flicker snapped her fingers, teleported behind one of the bangers and kicked him hard in the crotch. Before finishing him off with a smack to the face with her bat. Huzzah! She was amazing.

"What the hell?" The other banger quickly turned around, only to find that Flicker was gone. Flicker smirked as she kept teleporting, her fingers were gonna hurt later from all the snapping, around him before jumping on his back screaming. The would be victim having run off as soon as she arrived, Flicker felt a bit disappointed that she didn't have an audience for the wonderful show she was putting on.

"Get off me bitch." The skinhead shouted as he grabbed hold of her arms and threw her off. Feeling her body teleport before she hit the ground, Flicker was ready to throw another attack when she heard the of a gunshot and a car skidding to a stop.

Gasping, Flicker stared at the skinhead, in his hand he held a small gun. Before she could make her next move, another gun fired. With a bang, the skinhead fell to the ground screaming.

"You stupid cunt." Screamed the thug. Another gunshot silenced him. Flicker smirked again, until she realized she wasn't alone. Before she could make her escape, Flicker heard a voice.

"Bravo." A figure exited the car. Dressed in a grey uniform and a simple mask with a bird singing, Flicker prepared herself for another performance.

"Excellent job." The figure said as she walked towards Flicker. "A wonderful performance."

Flicker dropped her stance as she smiled. An admirer? Fantastic!

"Why thank you!" Flicker did an overdramatic bow. She loved meeting her fans. Another figure exited the car, in his hands was a smoking gun. Flicker's eyes widened upon realizing it was the would be victim.

"We apologize for ruining your most spectacular performance, but I absolutely had to meet the famous Flicker." The Cape with the bird mask said. Flicker couldn't keep her smile off of her face. Finally someone who appreciated her!

"Oh silly me. I forgot to introduce myself. I am Nightswan." Nightswan said with a wave of her grey cap.

"A pleasure to meet you Ms. Nightswan. I always enjoy meeting with the fans of my work." Flicker said enthusiastically. Yay! She made a new friend!

"My Boss is also a big fan of yourself Ms. Flicker. In fact, she would be delighted to meet you and offer you employment!" Nightswan continued. Employment? "She knows that you refuse to work with the self-righteous fake heroes that work for Protectorate who refuse to help the common people."

This was getting interesting.

"You have my interest Ms. Nightswan! Who do you work for?" Flicker replied happily. Maybe now she could get the chance to become a true hero and show off her performances to the world!

"I would be surprised if you had heard of them." Nightswan chirped as she motioned her friend to return to the car. Motioning Flicker closer, Nightswan leaned in and whispered into Flicker's ear.

"I work for the true heroes of Brockton Bay." Nightswan whispered softly. This piqued Flicker's interest.

"The Ascendancy."

Flicker didn't know it yet, but her chance to finally become a true hero was closer than she thought.

Director Piggot POV

"Brockton Bay is tearing itself apart. Under Director Piggot's supervision, she has allowed numerous gangs to rule this town for decades. Now she's allowing this new group calling themselves 'The Ascendancy', a group of wannabe vigilantes, to run free all around the city? I propose that the PRT launch an investiga-"

Emily snarled as she turned the tv off. That wonderful piece was being runned on every news channel that was local to Brockton Bay. Of course it made her furious that Thrawn was basically running around town shooting anything that was covered in gang colors, but she had a limited amount of resources. The Youth Guard would throw a fit about child soldiers if she threw the Wards at every conflict, the Empire by themselves outnumber them even with the Wards, Lung can fight off everyone in the city, and now this Thrawn thinks she can run circles around them. Especially with all of the propaganda the Ascendancy had been throwing out on PHO.

Emily glared at the folder that held all of the information they had about her. Naturally, they had classified her as a thinker 7, with a possible tinker 1, but now Armsmaster had come up with some of his own theories. Apparently, he believes that she has some sort of shaker ability, one that boosted the synergy or skills on those acting under her orders. If he was right, then they needed reinforcements if they wanted to restore peace.

Thankfully, a request to Chief Director Costa-Brown was approved. A member of the Protectorate, along with a new Ward were being assigned to Brockton Bay. Legend himself was coming temporarily. Officially, he was here for a training exercise, unofficially he was going to act as a deterrent until they could have a foolproof plan to restore the peace in place.

Looking at the bottle of whiskey that was hidden in her cabinet, Emily sighed and picked up her phone.

"Renick. Call a meeting, if Thrawn thinks I'm going to allow her to have this much free reign she is sorely mistaken."

"Of course. Are you ok Emily? I just saw the news." Barry said. Emily ground her teeth and answered him.

"I'm fine. Just do it."

If Thrawn wanted to have a war, then a war she was going to get and Emily wasn't planning on losing.

A/N

Damn this was a hard one to write. It's not my favorite chapter, but I can feel writers block forming again so I forced myself to write.

Flicker was originally created by Da-Guru on space battles.

I went back and put all of the parahuman ocs into a google doc its gonna take a little while until I go through all of them, but I already have ideas on how to use some of them.

I hope everyone enjoyed this horrible chapter


	34. 29

Find new recruits Thrawn said. Find parahuman recruits Thrawn said. L33T will help you Thrawn said. Lisa was getting pretty annoyed with L33T who now was known as Keeper One to the general public. Like Uber, he kept bitching about how lame it was, but he couldn't come up with another name just like Uber.

Anyways, Lisa decided that L33T could handle today.

"Name?"

"Manuel-" Manuel Luis Miguel Carlos de la Lopez Rosa

"Cape name." L33T interjected before 'Manuel' could go any further. "Idiot." He whispered that part.

"Oh uh, Tequila." Popular alcoholic drink.

"Sooooooo, what can you do?" L33T's annoying high pitch voice said. Currently, they were in one of L33T's old safehouses interviewing several parahumans that he knows, knew, or just found. It was...rather tedious in Lisa's opinion.

Staring at the idiot that they were interviewing, Tequila shuffled from side to side. Dressed in an old pancho and luchador mask, the new cape also had the largest sombrero Lisa had ever seen. Is trying to compensate for something.

"Uh Senor Keepuh, isa rather harda to explain." Said the rather stereotypical hispanic with one of the worst fake accents Lisa had heard in her life. Seriously, who does this guy think he is? Half Mexican, half Chilean. Proud of his heritage. Is regretting his costume decision. Power is-

Oh no.

"May I have a glass of wata?" Tequila said slowly. Worst. Accent. Ever. It took all of Lisa's willpower not to have Flicker teleport him and smack the idiot on the head with her bat. L33T shrugged and threw the man a bottle of water. Ascendancy branded of course.

"Mucho gracias Senor L33Ta." Tequila then downed the entire bottle of water in a handful of gulps. Power has something to do with his name.

This kept getting worse in Lisa's opinion. Pulling a glass cup with ice out of nowhere, Tequila turned around. Then, the sound of a zipper being unzipped, and the sound of water trickling filled the silent room. Lisa slapped her mask covered forehead and sighed.

Tequila then turned around after zipping his pants up again, with a familiar drink in his glass cup. Has the ability to turn the liquids he drinks into other forms by peeing. Used tequila because of his name.

Tequila then approached the table slowly and handed the cup to L33T after Lisa refused it. That was...disgusting and Lisa was more of a pina colada type of girl. L33T stared at the cup before taking it into his small hands.

"Well, you only live once I guess." L33T declared before pulling a straw out of one of his many pockets. With that, L33T took a long sip of the 'beverage' before erupting into a violent cough. The tequila has high levels of alcohol.

"Damn that's some good shit." L33T coughed for a couple more seconds before turning to look at Tequila, and then at Lisa.

"I'd say he's in. I need him in my department." Doesn't want to pay for drinks anymore.

Cheap ass bastard.

Lisa sighed for what felt like the millionth time, and nodded. Mostly to get back at Thrawn who assigned her to this stupid job with 'Keeper One'. Thrawn did say even the most useless of powers could be useful.

Tequila's eyes widened and he grabbed L33T's hand shaking it. Uh…

He needs to wash his hands.

Lisa grinned for the first time since she got here. She was so going to make fun of L33T later.

Lukas King POV

"What are we going to do?"

Lukas felt his eye twitch as he looked up at the middle-aged man sitting across his desk. Rafael was a good guy. He had joined the Dockworkers shortly after Lukas was made supervisor, back when work was still plentiful. Recently though, things have been getting worse for them. Ever since that bitch Hebert threw his support behind that new parahuman, the Ascendancy made their home in the Docks. Lukas cursed Hebert for letting a new gang into the Docks, but there was nothing he could do now.

Currently, the Docks were split between Lukas' loyal dockworkers, and Ascendancy traitor fucks. Lukas would rather kill himself than work for another cape who would throw away their lives like it was nothing. Every once in a while some recruiter would show up to the Western Dock office, and slowly more and more of his boys left. Lukas did not like this. Men and women came here to find honest, hard work, and now many of them were joining the so called 'Dock Militia'.

Thankfully, Thrawn's people have kept their distance from the parts of the Docks that still fell under Lukas' control, namely the area that surrounded the area where Lukas' office was located. Surprisingly, no death threats or demands for protection money had come, but Lukas doubted that things would remain the same forever.

"The same thing we always have done old friend." Lukas said with a grimace. Friend, he used to be able to call Hebert that. Back when they both agreed that the Dock Workers would take no part in the gangs conflict.

Rafael nodded stiffly a small bottle of whiskey he had in his pocket.

"Want some Boss?" The tanned offered as he held out the bottle. Lukas simply shook his head.

"Thank you, but I need my wits about me. Can't be too careful with the Empire pushing everyone's buttons more than they usually do." Lukas replied. Ever since that asswhooping the ABB recieved, it seemed that they were biding their time to make another move. So far, they haven't made any movement about moving into the Docks again. Well, even if they tried, the Ascendancy had men patrolling the border of the Docks, never crossing into loyal territory.

Rafael shrugged before taking a long swig from the bottle. Lukas smiled at the man's antics and was about to continue working on his computer when someone bursted into his office.

"Five trucks are on their way here Boss. Johnny said they just drove by the Seventh Warehouse. He said he saw a chimera on the side of the lead truck." Nancy shouted angrily. The ballbuster had joined the dockworkers around the same time Lukas had, and one of the few people he still trusted.

Lukas sighed before grabbing the large crowbar he had under his desk. It seemed that the day had finally arrived. If this was going to end in blood, then Lukas would make sure it would be spilled defending the people under his care.

"Rafael, gather anyone you can find and meet me out front. Nancy, you're with me." Lukas stood up from his chair, and straightened his back so he stood at his full height. Being 7'2 had many advantages and disadvantages, but intimidating people was definitely going to be an advantage at the moment. Rafael nodded before taking another sip of his bottle before running off.

With that, Lukas made his way to the front of the building. Nancy had brought along her trusty hot pink pistol, a weapon that Lukas hoped didn't have to be used. By the time they arrived, a dozen or so loyal dockworkers had gathered. Most were armed with crowbars, old iron pipes, or the occasional old rifle. Lukas smiled at everyone before walking to the front of the crowd.

"I'm here! I'm here now." Rafael came running from the inside of the building with another half dozen. Said man was now sweating and coughing violently. Lukas chuckled softly before turning his attention to the sound of engines getting closer.

Seconds later, the trucks appeared. Like Nancy said, the lead one had a chimera painted onto the side, with the rest having a large A painted on the doorside.

Each truck carried men and women clothed in black and grey. Lukas held his ground as they stopped about twenty feet away from him. Lukas King does not run away. Not anymore. Within seconds, the Ascendancy thugs dismounted and formed up opposite to Lukas' group. Surprisingly, no one came out of the truck with the chimera on it. Lukas glared at each and every traitor. He knew these people. He knew their families.

Suddenly, the crowd parted and a familiar figure walked up to Lukas. Clothed in her white armor and helmet, Thrawn was relatively tall, but compared to Lukas, she was still short. Each step she took was calculated. Lukas could practically feel her confidence radiating from her.

"A pleasure to see you as always Mr. King. I always enjoy our discussions." Thrawn said simply as she stared at Lukas. Thrawn's posture was straight, which made her seem a bit taller, while her hands were behind her back.

"I wish I could say the same. Now speak what you have to say and get out of my docks." Lukas replied firmly. He could feel the tension coming from both of their groups.

"Your docks? I wasn't aware that all of this land belongs to you. Anyways, I am here to give you a warning Mr. King." Thrawn's accented voice was amplified by her helmet. Feeling his hands tighten on his crowbar, Lukas felt his hands begin to sweat.

"Starting today the Ascendancy will no longer be patrolling the Western Docks. I'm sure you approve of this? After all, you have rejected my offers to join us." Thrawn said sadly. "As such, you will no longer have the protection that my men offer you. Of course, my offer will still stand if you decide to change your mind."

Lukas glared at her instead. This was...strange and not what he was expecting. Feeling Nancy tense up next to him, Lukas took a deep breath.

"We don't need your 'protection'. The Dock Workers have always defended ourselves from the gangs. We don't need cape-fuckers like you." Lukas spat on the ground in between them. Thrawn sighed softly before nodding.

"Have it your way then Mr. King." With a snap of her fingers, the traitors began to load their trucks. Feeling Thrawn stare at him, Lukas met her gaze.

"A pleasure as always. I wish you luck in your endeavors." Thrawn turned to leave when Lukas took another step forward. The black armored cape blocked his path.

"Tell Hebert that if I ever see him again, I'll rip his head off." Lukas growled. Thrawn didn't even bother to turn to look at him.

"Mr. King, please don't make promises you can't keep." With that she boarded one of the unmarked trucks with her 'bodyguard' and left.

"Well...I wasn't expecting that." Nancy said as she patted Lukas on the back. To be honest, Lukas wasn't expecting this either. Still, from what he heard, Thrawn was a thinker so who knew what she was planning.

"I didn't either." Lukas turned around to look at his dockworkers. He could feel the anxiety and fear coming from them, but they were a family. They stood together, and with a smile, Lukas walked back into his office.

"Back to work everyone. Just another day at the office." He heard Nancy shout as everyone dispersed.

"Hey Boss." Rafael spoke as he ran up to Lukas' side with his ever present bottle at his side. "I think you need that shot now." Lukas sighed, and then nodded.

Taking a long drink from the bottle, the burning sensation helped to calm Lukas as he went back to work.

As long as Lukas was the supervisor in the Docks, everything would be ok.

Uber POV

"That was some nice acting there. You got Thrawn's walk and manner of standing just right." Cipher One said. Ew, Uber still cringed internally whenever he called himself that.

"Of course I did, I had you to teach me after all." With that, the Thrawn 'imposter' sitting next to Uber slid off her white helmet revealing a mask with a bird on it. "Do you know how tight this uniform is? Well, granted it's not even mine and I needed to copy Thrawn's body type, but these heels in these boots are killing me." Nightswan said grumbling as she also took off her black boots.

"Sure, but you didn't even have to talk." Thrawn didn't want to waste time so she simply pre recorded a conversation onto the spare helmet while she 'worked' on several plans.

"It's pretty amazing how she managed to anticipate King's conversation. Even that part at the end." Uber said as he leaned back casually.

"I guess. She's pretty much an expert when it comes to guessing people's reactions and anticipating their moves." Nightswan said as she adjusted her grey cap on her head.

"Thinker bullshit." Uber said confidently.

"Thinker bullshit." Nightswan said in reply. Of course she would know. "Though I must say, white does look good on me."

Uber snorted and shrugged. "Not my type so I wouldn't know."

Nightswan slapped his armored shoulder softly before activating her communicator. With that, the real Thrawn's form appeared in front of them.

"I take it that the meeting went exactly as planned." Thrawn said simply as her helmet stared at both of them.

"Of course Boss. We should be back at base in about ten minutes." Uber said before Nightswan could open her mouth.

"Excellent. Take the rest of the day off Cipher One. Nightswan, meet me in my office once you return." With that the connection was cut.

"You know what that's all about?" Uber asked his companion. Nightswan shrugged in return.

"Eh I think so. So not your type huh. How about a new recruit with a dramatic fashion sense?" Nightswan said teasingly.

"Shut up." Uber grumbled in return, thankful for the fact that his helmet hid his blush. "Now I wanna shoot something."

"Knowing Thrawn, you'll probably get that wish soon."

"Probably."

Uber shrugged.

"Let me know once we arrive. I need a nap."

Nightswan nodded and began playing bird sounds while Uber drifted off to sleep.

L33T really needed to stop drinking. His singing kept Uber up all night.


End file.
